indistinctiveadj.
/ɪndɪˈstɪŋktɪv/ Not distinctive.
1. Not distinguishing; undiscriminating.
ΚΠ
1699 [implied in: Ld. Tarbut in Pepys' Diary VI. 191 That men, women, and children, indistinctively, were subject to it. (at indistinctively adv.)].
1845 [implied in: Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 57 398 The whole Essay addresses itself to two descriptions of persons—to those who will be critics, and to those who will be poets. Both are here addressed, and indistinctively. (at indistinctively adv.)].
1881 [implied in: Contemp. Rev. June 897 Pastimes in which nobles and patricians indistinctively took part. (at indistinctively adv.)].
2. Without distinctive character or features; not markedly different from others.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > generality > [adjective] > of no special quality > commonplace
commona1382
ordinarc1400
plainc1430
famosec1449
famous1528
vulgar1580
ordinary1590
undistinguished1600
indistinguished1608
commonplace1616
unremarkable1628
irremarkable1635
bread and cheese1643
incurious1747
ordinary-looking1798
routine1826
indistinctive1846
common-seeming1857
bread-and-butterish1893
bread-and-buttery1893
timeworn1901
day-to-day1919
vanilla1972
standard1977
the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > misjudgement > indiscriminateness > [adjective] > indistinguishable
indiscrete1608
indiscernible1646
indiscerned1652
confoundable1813
indistinctive1846
1846 E. A. Poe in Godey's Lady's Bk. May 200/2 In person rather short and slight; features indistinctive.
1861 Sat. Rev. 25 May 541 The hills, of New Red-Sandstone, are low and indistinctive,—the streams slow and sluggish.
a1864 N. Hawthorne Amer. Note-bks. (1879) I. 183 The blue and indistinctive scene.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online March 2018).
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adj.1699