definitives

Stamps proving postage

Definitives are postage stamps issued for everyday use, as opposed to commemoratives printed for special occasions in limited quantities.

A country's definitives typically feature standard designs—national symbols, monarchs, or landscapes—and remain in circulation for years.

Philatelists distinguish between these workhorse stamps and their flashier commemorative counterparts.

authoritative

canon

Accepted authoritative works

  • doctrineEstablished body of teachings
  • dogmaUnchallengeable official beliefs
  • axiomSelf-evident starting principle

tenet · dictum · gospel · creed · precept · principle · commandment · decree · edict · mandate

conclusive

final

Last and decisive

unequivocal · incontrovertible · indisputable · unassailable · categorical · ultimate · binding · determinant · settling · peremptory

possessives

my

First-person possessive

  • yourSecond-person possessive
  • hisMale possessive pronoun
  • herFemale object pronoun

its · our · their · mine · yours · hers · ours · theirs · whose · one's

determiners

the

Not just any

  • aIndefinite singular article
  • anVowel-preceding indefinite article
  • thisDemonstrative for nearness

that · these · those · which · what · whatever · whichever · each · every · either

Opposites
stamp issue type

definitivescommemoratives

Items marking notable occasions

commemorative stamps · special issues · provisionals · limited editions · airmail stamps

permanence/finality

definitivesprovisionals

Interim substitutes or arrangements

preliminaries · drafts · approximations · temporaries · placeholders

Phrases
Family

definitive, definitively, definitiveness

Familiarity
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Profile
Used worldwide · Timeless · Rated G