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Glite Dictionary
🚫 Unfair or biased 🔍 Carefully selective
discriminatory

discriminatory

1 6.8
Able to notice small differences between similar things
  • adjective
  • /dɪˈskrɪməˌnɛtəri/
translation icon : discriminante
  • Some species of birds are discriminatory in selecting their mates based on specific plumage colors.
  • discriminatory power

Examples

  • While searching for the best candidates, the hiring manager was very discriminatory in evaluating their qualifications and experiences.

  • In conclusion, the genome data we obtained for these cases offered superior discriminatory power that supported appropriate infection control measures.

    Academic text (2015)

  • Third, a discriminant-function analysis was conducted to consider the relative discriminatory power among items in each content area.

    Academic text (1991)

  • The courts, not speakers themselves, classify speech as hateful or discriminatory.

    Academic text (2000)

  • The weighted numerical score has been statistically validated and proven to have a higher discriminatory power than mathematical models.

    Academic text (2002)

  • Films may make points, or they may merely have points—to encourage viewers, for instance, to use their discriminatory faculties keenly and perceptively.

    Academic text (1998)

  • Thus, first-generation students are doubly disadvantaged through grossly unequal provision due to their origin, accompanied by unequal treatment, which includes a disinterested and discriminatory teaching and learning process.

    Academic text (2018)

  • The scientist's approach was discriminatory, allowing her to identify subtle differences between the two closely related species.

Synonyms

discriminating
vsdiscriminatory
2 6.2

Showing good taste and the ability to notice small differences in quality

is broader, applying to careful distinctions beyond taste judgments
diacritical
vsdiscriminatory
1 9.0

Showing small details that help tell things apart

focuses on the ability to make careful distinctions rather than marking them
discriminative
vsdiscriminatory
7.4

Able to notice small differences and judge them well

is about careful, neutral differentiation rather than evaluative judgment

Antonyms

indiscriminate
23 7.2

Happening without careful choice of people or things

How Discriminating

discerning
20 6.7
discriminatory
1 6.8
selective
118 4.3

Surface Forms

discriminatory positive
discriminatorier comparative
discriminatoriest superlative

Morphology

discriminatory = discriminate (transparent) = discriminate + ory

Built from 'discriminate' + '-ory'; the sense 'able to make fine distinctions' is a direct adjectival interpretation of the verb's basic meaning.

Etymology

Discriminatory can also mean being able to notice small differences, and it shares the same roots dis- 'apart' and cernere 'to separate' as the English word discern 'to notice' or 'see' differences. So a discriminatory taste or test is one that clearly separates small differences.