characterize
v.v. to describe the most important qualities of someone or something. You use this when you want to explain what makes a person or situation special or different.
v. to describe the distinctive nature or features of something; to be a typical quality of a person or thing. Transitive — requires a direct object.
How would you characterize his style of leadership?
The report tends to characterize the recent economic shift as a temporary setback rather than a long-term crisis.
While critics often characterize her early novels as purely autobiographical, a closer reading reveals a sophisticated blend of historical research and speculative fiction that transcends her personal experience.
From Medieval Latin charactērizō, from Ancient Greek χαρακτηρίζω (kharaktērízō, “to designate by a characteristic mark”), from χαρακτήρ (kharaktḗr, “a mark, character”). By surface analysis, character + -ize.
The verb is transitive and often appears in the passive voice ('is characterized by'). In British English, the spelling 'characterise' is standard.
The book characterizes about the war.The book characterizes the war.Characterize is a transitive verb and takes a direct object without a preposition like 'about'.