disparate
Americanadjective
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of disparate
First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin disparātus “separated,” past participle of disparāre “to separate,” from dis- dis- 1 + parāre “to make ready” ( see pare)
Explanation
The trunk of some people's cars may contain items as disparate as vintage records, a tangled garden hose, and possibly a stray hiking boot. Disparate things are very different from each other. Near synonyms for disparate are unequal and dissimilar. The adjective is derived from the Latin disparātus, from disparāre, meaning "to separate or divide," combining the prefix dis-, "apart," with parāre "to prepare." The word's modern sense of "distinct in kind" likely evolved through its association with the Latin adjective dispar, meaning "unequal" or "different."
Vocabulary lists containing disparate
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
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"A Quilt of a Country," Vocabulary from the argument
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Perhaps evoking an oft-quoted Didion quote: “We tell ourselves stories in order to live. We live entirely by the impression of a narrative line upon disparate images, the shifting phantasmagoria, which is our actual experience.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 28, 2026
The play is about a gig driver’s adventures transporting people across Los Angeles during the first years of ride-hailing and how it connected people from disparate corners of the city.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026
Central to the task in either case is the challenge of uniting disparate parts.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026
They’ll buy up stock in the initial, single company, anticipating the spinoff will unlock value in what will become disparate and separately traded entities.
From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026
Compared with my own lockstep march toward success, the direct arrow shot of my trajectory from Princeton to Harvard to my desk on the forty-seventh floor, Barack’s path was an improvisational zigzag through disparate worlds.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
