Learn English – Synonym for personality in context of non-living things

single-word-requestssynonyms

Something living has a personality or persona of its own. Similarly, is there a word that can be used in the case of describing a non-living thing, say, a portrait?

Best Answer

I go for singularity (or singular), meaning

  1. The quality or condition of being singular.

  2. A trait marking one as distinct from others; a peculiarity.

  3. Something uncommon or unusual.

The French language has a phrase which summarizes the notion of singularity, and that is

je ne sais quoi,

which is defined as "an intangible quality that makes something distinctive or attractive."

In English we might say about something with singularity (such as a portrait),

It has a certain something. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it's there just the same.

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