diverse
Americanadjective
-
of a different kind, form, character, etc.; unlike.
a wide range of diverse opinions.
-
of various kinds or forms; multiform.
- Synonyms:
- disparate, dissimilar
-
including representatives from more than one social, cultural, or economic group, especially members of ethnic or religious minority groups.
a diverse student body.
adjective
-
having variety; assorted
-
distinct in kind
Usage
What are other ways to say diverse?
The adjective diverse describes things that are different in kind, form, or character. How does diverse compare to synonyms various, distinct, and different? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of diverse
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English, from Latin dīversus (past participle of dīvertere “to divert ”), equivalent to dī- di- 2 + vert- (base of vertere “to turn”) + -tus, past participle suffix, with -tt- regularly becoming -s-
Explanation
A diverse group is made up of people or things that are very different from each other. If your class mixes kids from all over the world, you could call it diverse. The adjective diversified has the same meaning, and a near synonym is varied. An earlier spelling of the English adjective was divers, and the final –e was probably added by association with words such as traverse and converse. The word divers is still in use in the sense "more than one, several, various:" divers methods and styles.
Vocabulary lists containing diverse
100 SAT Words Beginning with "D"
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"Of Plymouth Plantation," Vocabulary from the historical account
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"The Odyssey," Vocabulary from Part 1 of the epic poem
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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.
A diverse microbiome is generally better able to resist the expansion of harmful pathogens.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026
“Rubber Soul” is the Beatles album that made musos as diverse as Grace Slick and Elvis Costello sit up and take notice — it’s also Harry Styles’ favorite.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
In Ms. Browne’s compression, the reader immediately understands how Darwin’s diverse interests came to fit together like the pieces of a puzzle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Overseeing such a diverse mix is obviously too big a job for one person so Ellison added yet another flavor by drafting Ynon Kreiz as co-chief executive.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
Within a few millennia that single ancestral Polynesian society had spawned on those diverse islands a range of diverse daughter societies, from hunter-gatherer tribes to proto-empires.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
