dissimilar
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of dissimilar
Explanation
If your sister has dark skin and dark hair, and you have fair skin and fair hair, people might say that your looks are dissimilar or not alike. Inside of dissimilar you find similar which means alike. By now, you've probably figured out that dis at the beginning of a word tells you the word means the opposite of whatever comes after. That rule holds here. Dissimilar is the opposite of similar. You've probably heard that you should not use double negatives. Well with dissimilar, it's okay to say something like, "Art is not dissimilar to music in that it is a creative activity. Here, "not dissimilar" means similar.
Vocabulary lists containing dissimilar
100 SAT Words Beginning with "D"
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Power Prefix: Dis-
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"The MGMT Solution," Vocabulary from Chapter 10
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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.
Mix in perpetual futures, which never expire and allow massive leverage, and you have a spectacle that isn’t too dissimilar from watching people play an adrenaline-rushing videogame.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 13, 2026
So I think we’re well situated in the United States to have a simple message in 2026—not dissimilar to Hungary—about corruption and the cost-of-living crisis.
From Slate • Apr. 20, 2026
It is dissimilar to a historic home run because a baseball leaves the field of play, and the owner becomes the fortunate fan.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026
Yet again, however, the dissimilar qualities start to feel like echoes.
From Salon • Mar. 15, 2026
And if our bodies are dissimilar, our points of view are even more so.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
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.
