traittrait /treɪ, treɪt $ treɪt/ ●●○ noun [countable] 
a mental illness associated with particular personality traitsgenetic/inherited traits
WORD ORIGINtrait
Origin:
1500-1600 French ‘act of pulling, trait’, from Latin tractus; ➔ TRACTEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- a genetic trait
- Certain personality traits make people more likely to become victims of violent crime.
- Does Bryce have any bad traits?
- It's a human trait to joke about subjects that make us uncomfortable.
- Pride seems to be one of our family traits.
- His most noticeable trait was his charm, which he could seemingly turn on at will.
- Natural selection is of traits favourable to the survival, not of individuals, but of successive generations.
- Of course, I was only displaying the ultimately cliched boomer trait, a tortured denial of my own advancing years.
- One should select the essential trait and reproduce it-or, even better, produce it.
- Our entrepreneurial drive has long been our distinguishing trait.
- She shows both traits assigned to the men, immorality and dishonesty.
- The mutation has no functional significance and controls no traits, researchers say.
Longman Language Activatorone part of someone's character
something such as an ability or a way of behaving that is part of someone's character: · Besides intelligence and charm, Bella had some less desirable qualities.· The essential quality of a good parent is patience.· Among his other endearing qualities, Ralph was an exceedingly patient man.
a part of someone's character, especially a part that is thought by other people to be good and useful: · The attribute that people found most attractive in Sharon was her optimism.· Hope is one of mankind's most enduring and rewarding attributes.· He had all the attributes of a great leader: charisma, energy, discipline, and resourcefulness.
someone's characteristics are the qualities that are typical of them and which make them easy to recognize: · All great leaders share certain characteristics which must be seen as the key to their success.· Ralph can be very mean sometimes. It's one of his less endearing characteristics.
one type of feeling or behaviour that is particularly noticeable in a person or group of people: · It's a human trait to joke about subjects that make us uncomfortable.family trait (=a trait shared by members of a family): · Pride seems to be one of our family traits.personality trait: · Certain personality traits make people more likely to become victims of violent crime.
: romantic/serious/funny etc side a part of someone's character, especially one that is very different from the rest of their character: · Canning was a very traditional Englishman but he had a surprisingly romantic side to him as well.· Val revealed her wild side at the office party.· After his arrest people realized that there had always been a darker side to his nature.
one part of someone's character, which makes them behave or feel in particular ways: · Part of me loves going to parties but there's another part that prefers staying at home.· There is a part of her that I just don't understand.
a part of someone's character that is quite different from the rest of their character, especially one that makes them behave badly: mean/nasty/violent etc streak: · She had a mean streak that she didn't bother to hide.· The District Attorney argued that Johnson has a violent streak and is a danger to society.
informal a part of someone's character, especially one that you like or dislike: · One of the things I like about Susan is the way she always keeps smiling, even when there are problems.· The nicest thing about Richard is that he doesn't mind being criticized.
good or bad things about someone's character: · Fred was a bad manager but he had his good points.· She always tried to be fair with her students and not just stress their bad points.· When you're dead people don't remember your faults -- only your good points.
a strange or unusual habit or part of someone's character: · Although on the outside he was quiet and shy, Albert had more than his share of quirks.· She took pride in her children's quirks and individuality, and made no effort to try to change them.
you say this when there is something about a person's character that you like or dislike, but you're not sure exactly what it is: · I don't know what it is, but there's something about that man which really irritates me.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY a mental illness associated with particular personality traitsCOLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES Shyness is one of her most endearing qualities.
formal a particular quality in someone’s characterpersonality/character traits a mental illness associated with particular personality traits Shyness is one of her most endearing qualities. formal (=a part of your personality)· She shares many of her mother’s personality traits.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· In these, the modifier is the selector, and hence presupposes certain traits of the head.· Also, the subjects found that certain traits which they felt strongly about were important to whether they were likeable or not.
· Nocturnal enuresis alone, particularly if primary, is both a disorder of maturation and a genetic trait.· Cultural practices, like genetic traits, are transmitted from individual to individual.
· Unfortunately, the ability to listen to the problems of another person is not a universal human trait.
· Of course, as for any other trait, it may be impossible for any one homozygous genotype to achieve the optimum.· Among other traits of character, Xerxes was an aesthete.· Powell shares other traits with Brown as well.· In this section, I discuss other traits for which this difficulty arises.
· Biased estimates of variation in reproductive success may also cause the effects of particular phenotypic traits on reproductive success to be overestimated.· Is it the specific disorder, a particular personality trait associated with the disorder, or a general vulnerability to psychiatric disturbance?
· Third, one can identify those personal traits of the individual that are related to activism.· Important personal traits for funeral directors are composure, tact, and the ability to communicate easily with the public.
· Cetaceans today still carry in their bodies some of the physical traits of their land-dwelling ancestors.
NOUN· The inviolable Gedge formed character traits as a child that give a fascinating insight into his later life.· The character trait here is over-dependence, lack of autonomy. 2.· But your greatest character trait is your honesty.· It was an innate character trait.
· Initially, they defined the personality traits of those with this syndrome: Authoritarians are extremely conventional in their attitudes and morality.· Firstly, children should be able to establish reasons why there are individual differences in personality traits and emotional reactions.· Richard Lugar, for instance, briefly sought the presidency themselves but died of inhibited personality traits on the campaign trail.· What are the personality traits of Chemical Dependency?· For Barber, key personality traits define each of the four types of political personality.· Downs argues that bureaucrats do exhibit personality traits but these may differ.· As a result, they are unable ever to get beyond the personality traits they find irritating.
VERB· In reality, a well-endowed man is likely to have inherited the trait.· The structural changes that are seen in hemoglobin 5 and C disorders are inherited as autosomal recessive traits. 216.· There is a suggestion that offspring do not have an even chance of inheriting a trait from either parent.· At the same time, though, inherited psychological and physiological traits had their dangerous downsides.
· The Roosevelts and Robinsons shared many of these traits, and added some of their own.· All the witnesses share one trait.
· She shows both traits assigned to the men, immorality and dishonesty.· The citizens who stepped out of the crowd and ran for office Tuesday showed they had that trait.· Haemoglobin electrophoresis showed sickle cell trait.· She also showed obsessional traits, including rituals concerned with dressing, washing, and general checking.
a mental illness associated with particular personality traitsgenetic/inherited traits