character

Universal Words noun qualities / features 1 [C,usually sing.] all the qualities and features that make a person, groups of people, and places different from others: to have a strong / weak character * character traits / defects * The book gives a fascinating insight into Mrs Blair's character. * Generosity is part of the American character. * The character of the neighbourhood hasn't changed at all. 2 [C,usually sing,U] the way that sth is, or a particular quality or feature that a thing, an event or a place has: the delicate character of the light in the evening * The police pointed out the illegal character of the protest action. * buildings that are very simple in character 3 [U] (approving) strong personal qualities such as the ability to deal with difficult or dangerous situations: Everyone admires her strength of character and determination. * He showed great character returning to the sport after his accident. * Adventure camps are considered to be character-building (= meant to improve sb's strong qualities). 4 [U] (usually approving) the interesting or unusual quality that a place or a person has: The modern hotels here have no real character. * a face with a lot of character strange / interesting person 5 [C] (informal) (used with an adjective) a person, particularly an unpleasant or strange one: There were some really strange characters hanging around the bar. 6 [C] (informal) an interesting or unusual person: She's a character! reputation 7 [C,U] (formal) the opinion that people have of you, particularly of whether you can be trusted or relied on: a man of good character and integrity * She was a victim of character assassination (= an unfair attack on the good opinion people had of her). * a slur / attack on his character * My teacher agreed to be a character witness for me in court. * a character reference (= a letter sb who knows you well writes to an employer to tell them about your good qualities) in book / play / movie 8 [C] a person or an animal in a book, play or film/movie: a major / minor character in the book * cartoon characters * Clint Eastwood's character is the most sympathetic in the movie. symbol / letter 9 [C] a letter, sign, mark or symbol used in writing, printing or on computers: Chinese characters * a line 30 characters long * optical character recognition IDIOMS in character