Distinctive \Dis*tinc"tive\, a. [Cf. F. distinctif.]

1. Marking or expressing distinction or difference; distinguishing; characteristic; peculiar. [1913 Webster]

The distinctive character and institutions of New England. --Bancroft. [1913 Webster]

2. Having the power to distinguish and discern; discriminating. [Obs.]

--Sir T. Browne. [1913 Webster]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

82 Moby Thesaurus words for "distinctive": accurate, appreciative, appropriate, articulate, audible, categorical, characteristic, characterizing, classificational, classificatory, clear, contrastive, critical, defining, definite, delicate, denominative, diacritical, diagnostic, differencing, differential, differentiative, discrete, discriminate, discriminating, discriminative, distinct, distinguished, distinguishing, divisional, divisionary, exact, exemplary, fastidious, fine, hearable, hi-fi, high-fidelity, idiocratic, idiosyncratic, in character, individual, individualizing, individuating, intrinsic, marked, natural, naturalistic, nice, normal, ordinal, particular, peculiar, personalizing, plain, precise, proper, quintessential, realistic, refined, regular, sample, selective, sensitive, separate, separative, several, single, singular, special, specific, subdivisional, subtle, tactful, taxonomic, true to form, true to type, typal, typic, typical, unique, usual

Source: Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
 

distinctive adj
1: of a feature that helps to distinguish a person or thing; "Jerusalem has a distinctive Middle East flavor"- Curtis Wilkie; "that is typical of you!" [syn: typical]
2: possible to classify [syn: classifiable]
3: serving to distinguish or identify a species or group; "the distinguishing mark of the species is its plumage"; "distinctive tribal tattoos"; "we were asked to describe any identifying marks or distinguishing features" [syn: distinguishing, identifying(a)]

Source: WordNet (r) 2.0
 

Distinctive \Dis*tinc"tive\, a. [Cf. F. distinctif.]

1. Marking or expressing distinction or difference; distinguishing; characteristic; peculiar.

The distinctive character and institutions of New England. --Bancroft.

2. Having the power to distinguish and discern; discriminating. [Obs.]

--Sir T. Browne.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)