ascriptive characteristics

/əˈskrɪptɪv ˌkærəktəˈrɪstɪks/

noun phrase

  1. Personal or social attributes assigned to a person or group at birth or acquired involuntarily, rather than chosen or earned. Examples include ethnic background, sex, age, and family origin.

    C1

    plural noun phraseformal; academic

    • "Age and family background are common ascriptive characteristics."B2
    • "Sociologists distinguish ascriptive characteristics from achieved characteristics such as education and occupation."C1

Collocations

ascriptive statusascribed statusachieved characteristics

Word family

ascribeascribedascription