Characteristic mood? (10)

I believe the answer is:

indicative

This clue is a double definition.

'characteristic' is the first definition.
(thesaurus)

'mood?' is the second definition.
(indicative is a kind of mood)

(Other definitions for indicative that I've seen before include "mood" , "Serving as a sign" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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