Disparate

//ˈdɪsp(ə)ɹət// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any of a group of unequal or dissimilar things. in-plural
Adjective
  1. 1
    Composed of inherently different or distinct elements; incongruous.

    "The board of the company was decidedly disparate, with no two members from the same social or economic background."

  2. 2
    Essentially different; of different species, unlike but not opposed in pairs.
  3. 3
    Utterly unlike; incapable of being compared; having no common ground.

    "Then disparate sense impressions come to disparate organs, as light to the eye, taste to the mouth, etc."

Adjective
  1. 1
    including markedly dissimilar elements wordnet
  2. 2
    fundamentally different or distinct in quality or kind wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
differentheterogeneousincongruoussundryaberrantassorted

Example

More examples

"When a word is borrowed from another language, it frequently begins by having the same meaning; but with continued use in both languages, the now separate words may accrete disparate connotations."

Etymology

First attested in 1586; either borrowed from Middle French desparat or directly from Latin disparātus, perfect passive participle of disparō (“to divide”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and -ate (noun-forming suffix)), from dis- (“apart”) + parō (“to arrange”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ (“two”) and the root *per- (“carry forth”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.