specific
- 01 B1 Intermediate
adj.clear and exact rather than general.
adj.explicit, definite, or precise in nature; avoiding ambiguity by providing exact details.
Simple“The teacher gave us specific instructions on how to finish the project.”
In context“The contract includes specific clauses regarding the termination of services, ensuring that both parties understand their legal obligations.”
- 02 B1 Intermediate
adj.relating to one particular thing and not others.
adj.restricted to a particular individual, situation, or object; unique to a certain context.
Simple“This medicine is for a specific type of allergy.”
In context“The researcher identified a specific gene sequence that appears only in this population of desert plants.”
Synonyms - 03 C1 Advanced
adj.used in science to describe a value that is divided by the mass of an object.
adj.denoting a physical quantity per unit of mass, or a value standardized by division to create a ratio.
Simple“Specific heat is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one gram of a substance.”
In context“Engineers must calculate the specific gravity of the alloy to determine if the component will float in the high-density cooling fluid.”
Synonyms - 04 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.the small details or exact facts about something.
n.the particular details or precise items of information; almost exclusively used in the plural form.
Simple“I know the general plan, but I don't know the specifics yet.”
In context“While the CEO outlined the broad vision for the merger, the legal teams spent weeks debating the specifics of the asset transfer.”
UsageUsually used in the plural form 'specifics'.
SynonymsAntonymsgeneralities
Usage specific genes · specific species · specific time
From Old French specifique, from Late Latin specificus (“specific, particular”), from Latin speciēs (“kind”) + -ific.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.