as in characteristics
something that sets apart an individual from others of the same kind
regards a sense of permanence as one of the fingerprints of a civilized society
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Recent Examples of fingerprints
Investigators have three of the devices in possession and are running them for fingerprints.
—
Tom Dougherty, CBS News, 1 Apr. 2026
The scratches are like fingerprints in that no two firearms make identical markings.
—Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2026
The crime scene investigation unit examined 599 latent fingerprints, according to the report.
—Nicole Buss, Sacbee.com, 31 Mar. 2026
Don’t overlook your mirrors, light fixtures and walls, which can accumulate dust and fingerprints over months of heavy use.
—Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Miami Herald, 31 Mar. 2026
His fingerprints were all over the franchise’s dramatic rise, from the blockbuster trade that brought Kawhi Leonard to Toronto to developing key players in Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet, who played a crucial role in the Raptors championship run.
—Rowan Fisher-Shotton, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Mar. 2026
Acrylic cover Most frames have an acrylic cover for protection from dust and fingerprints.
—Bestreviews, Mercury News, 30 Mar. 2026
Appliances like refrigerators and dishwashers should be cleaned every one or two weeks, depending on how regularly they’re used, to get rid of splatters, airborne grease, and dirty fingerprints.
—Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 30 Mar. 2026
During the booking process, inmate fingerprints are automatically entered into this database, accessible by all local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, including ICE.
—Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 22 Mar. 2026
Tom Dougherty, CBS News, 1 Apr. 2026
The scratches are like fingerprints in that no two firearms make identical markings.
—Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2026
The crime scene investigation unit examined 599 latent fingerprints, according to the report.
—Nicole Buss, Sacbee.com, 31 Mar. 2026
Don’t overlook your mirrors, light fixtures and walls, which can accumulate dust and fingerprints over months of heavy use.
—Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Miami Herald, 31 Mar. 2026
His fingerprints were all over the franchise’s dramatic rise, from the blockbuster trade that brought Kawhi Leonard to Toronto to developing key players in Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet, who played a crucial role in the Raptors championship run.
—Rowan Fisher-Shotton, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Mar. 2026
Acrylic cover Most frames have an acrylic cover for protection from dust and fingerprints.
—Bestreviews, Mercury News, 30 Mar. 2026
Appliances like refrigerators and dishwashers should be cleaned every one or two weeks, depending on how regularly they’re used, to get rid of splatters, airborne grease, and dirty fingerprints.
—Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 30 Mar. 2026
During the booking process, inmate fingerprints are automatically entered into this database, accessible by all local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, including ICE.
—Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 22 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fingerprints
Noun
-
The interface of the desktop website version includes key mission milestones and characteristics about the moon, including information about landing sites during the Apollo era.—
Doyle Rice,
USA Today,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Hegseth exhibits those characteristics, and our soldiers finally have someone to follow.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
How a child responds to peer pressure can highlight different traits.—
Amy Morin,
Parents,
3 Apr. 2026
-
These are seven quietly powerful traits that the most emotionally secure people share.—
Jessica Weiss,
CNBC,
3 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Anything stand out about other services and features?—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
5 Apr. 2026
-
All four astronauts have been studying the moon extensively in their mission preparation, of course, but the precise launch date and time determined the specific features each would target during their all-too-fleeting close encounter, making this review time a necessity.—
Meghan Bartels,
Scientific American,
4 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Clicking into the title will give you even more information, including a blurb about what parents need to know, a breakdown of potential concerns and positive qualities about the book, and reviews from kids.—
Cody Godwin,
USA Today,
2 Apr. 2026
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Many plants are admired for their striking aesthetic qualities, and flowers such as tulips, lilies, sunflowers, and daisies beautify fields, gardens, windowsills, and bouquets the world over.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Going beyond the basics of a typical smart scale, the MorphoScan breaks down segmental muscle and fat for each arm, each leg, and your torso, similar to a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan, which is essentially a medical imagery test to gauge these same attributes.—
Andrew Gebhart,
PC Magazine,
5 Apr. 2026
-
Hints to motivations can be found by looking at California’s net out-migration stats by state and comparing those relocations with rankings of states for various attributes.—
Jeff Goertzen,
Oc Register,
4 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Political discussions on social media are often dominated by competing attributions of more and more insidious motives to people on the other side.—
Mark Schroeder,
The Conversation,
20 Feb. 2026
-
This post was corrected on 21 January 2021 to clarify attributions.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
12 Jan. 2021
Cite this Entry
“Fingerprints.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fingerprints. Accessed 7 Apr. 2026.
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