The term that describes a genetic trait that is masked by a dominant trait is known as a recessive trait. In a genetic context, alleles can be classified as dominant or recessive. A dominant allele will express its trait even in the presence of a recessive allele, while the recessive trait will only appear phenotypically when an individual has two copies of the recessive allele (homozygous). Understanding recessive traits is important in genetics for predicting inheritance patterns and for determining how traits are passed down through generations.