ADJ
- critical, crucial, important, key, main, major, vital
- basic, essential, fundamental, underlying
- clear, clear-cut, definite, marked, obvious, real, rigid, sharp, strong
- fine, subtle
- broad, general
- crude, simple
- logical, valid
- useful
- arbitrary, artificial
- invidious
- making invidious distinctions between the 'deserving' and the 'undeserving' poor
- absolute
- Is there always an absolute distinction between right and wrong?
- conventional, old, traditional
- the conventional distinction between pure and applied science
- formal
- conceptual
- theoretical
- class, cultural, gender, moral
VERB + DISTINCTION
- draw, make
- She draws an important distinction between the different kinds of illness
- recognize, see
- We can see a sharp distinction between ambition and greed
- blur
- blurring the distinction between amateur and professional players
DISTINCTION + VERB
- lie
- Cultural distinctions lie at the heart of these issues
PREP
- without ~
- All groups are entitled to this money without distinction (= without a difference being made between them)
- ~ between
ADJ
- considerable, great
- modest
- dubious
- rare
- unique
- added
- academic, intellectual, professional, social
- Wearing the county tie was a mark of modest social distinction
VERB + DISTINCTION
- have
- He has the dubious distinction of being the first railway baron to go bankrupt
- achieve
- She achieved distinction in several fields of scholarship
- add
- Fennel leaves add distinction to any dish
PREP
- of ~
- She is a historian of great distinction
- with ~
- He served with distinction in the First World War
