The phrase "a marked characteristic" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe a distinctive feature or quality that stands out in a person, object, or situation.
Example: "Her ability to empathize with others is a marked characteristic that sets her apart as a leader."
Alternatives: "a notable trait" or "a distinguishing feature."
The program of dances by Larry Keigwin that opened at the Joyce Theater on Tuesday night shows a marked characteristic of his work.
He has changed, though, and it has been a marked characteristic of the lead-up to his showdown with Joe Calzaghe at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.
More likely, however, is that the process of growing political accountability and openness, which has been such a marked characteristic of the last three decades, will continue and deepen.
A marked characteristic of the leaf is an areolated portion bounded by two longitudinal curved lines, one on each side of the midrib, and more conspicuous on the under face of the leaf.
A marked characteristic of ILC is the presence of synchronous neoplastic foci, occurring in the same or in the contralateral breast (multifocality/multicentricity), which happens more frequently than in IDC.
He had a strong face, and a determination that was the most marked characteristic of the man.
There is not a portrait here but has some marked characteristic by which you can identify the man who sat for it.
The book's greatest problem is the prose itself -- a vague po' folks dialect whose most marked characteristic is the elimination of "-ing," as in "She was moppin' and cussin'".
By the time Ms. Smith reprints a Vanity Fair questionnaire in which she named "self-defeating generosity" as her most marked characteristic, no reader need wonder what she means.
"The gentleness of the English civilisation is perhaps its most marked characteristic.
The New York Observer went for "daunted" and "tentative", with "the most marked characteristic of Lionel Asbo is its joylessness".
