Word family noun description adjective describable ≠ indescribable nondescript descriptive verb describe adverb descriptively
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdescriptionde‧scrip‧tion /dɪˈskrɪpʃən/ ●●● S2 W2 noun [countable, uncountable] 1 DESCRIBEa piece of writing or speech that gives details about what someone or something is likedescription of an accurate description of the event The booklet gives a brief description of each place. Berlin sounds fascinating from your description. → job description2 → be beyond/past description3 → of every/some/any etc descriptionCOLLOCATIONSverbsgive (somebody) a descriptionShe was unable to give the police a description of her attacker.provide a description formalThe diary provides a clear description of farming life in the 1850s.issue a description (=formally give a description of someone to the public)Police have issued a description of the two men they are looking for.fit/match a description (=be like the person in a police description)The first man they arrested did not fit the description given by the victim.somebody answering a description (=a person who looks like someone in a police description)A young girl answering this description has been seen in Spain.adjectivesgoodHer descriptions of the natural world are very good.clearHe gave us a clear description of the situation in the city.detailedSome of his descriptions of the island are very detailed.accurateI don't think the hotel's description of its facilities was very accurate.vivid (=very clear and interesting)The book contains some vivid descriptions of his childhood.perfectWe have a perfect description of the man we are looking for.a full description formal (=detailed)Please give a full description of your responsibilities in your present job.a long/lengthy descriptionI didn't want to hear a lengthy description of their holiday.a brief/short descriptionThere's only a brief description of the hotel on the Internet.a general description (=not detailed)He started by giving us a general description of the manufacturing process.a graphic description (=very clear and containing a lot of details, usually about something unpleasant)The book has some graphic descriptions of life in the prison camp.Examples from the Corpus
description• Tom gave the police a description of his car.• She mesmerized a neighborhood gathering with a description of her transatlantic flight.• Write a description of someone you know well.• You can read a detailed description of the products on their Web site.• However, this was not because the goods were unfit for use but rather because they included goods of a different description.• Anyway, Peter also had me write down some descriptions of the other members of the management committee.• Affleck certainly falls into that description.• However, W was unaware that the description had been applied to the goods at all.• The description, which I had read in a recent newspaper account, had struck me as infinitely ironic and strange. 