selectivity

nounC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,561 of 15,258Too rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

Selectivity is care in choosing only what fits. Show some selectivity.

It is praise for an editor and a criticism of anybody quoting evidence. Selectivity in a school means choosing pupils, which is a political argument rather than a quality.

Definitions of selectivity

1nounselectivityCare in choosing only what fits.C2
“The selectivity of the quotations gave the whole thing away.”

selectivity is a quality.

Where it comes from

From selective + -ity.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

selectivity in the wild

One with a higher ratio of substrate selectivity for ATP:ADP and another with no selectivity (ratio 1).
Apyrase
Replacement of the ester function by an amide, realized in analogs such as MP-III-022 and GL-II-73, improves selectivity, efficacy, and kinetic behavior.
SH-053-R-CH3-2′F
In chemistry, binding selectivity is defined with respect to the binding of ligands to a substrate forming a complex.
Binding selectivity
Acyclic allylic alcohols exhibit good selectivity as well.
Epoxidation of allylic alcohols
However these reactions tend to have lower levels of selectivity.
Epoxidation of allylic alcohols

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

selective

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