heterogeneous

American  

[het-er-uh-jee-nee-uhs, -jeen-yuhs] / ˌhɛt ər əˈdʒi ni əs, -ˈdʒin yəs /

adjective

1. different in kind; unlike; incongruous.

2. composed of parts of different kinds; having widely dissimilar elements or constituents.

   The party was attended by a heterogeneous group of artists, politicians, and social climbers.

   Synonyms:

   diverse, varied

   Antonyms:

   homogeneous

3. Chemistry. (of a mixture) composed of different substances or the same substance in different phases, as solid ice and liquid water.

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heterogeneous British  

/ ˌhɛtərəʊdʒɪˈniːɪtɪ, ˌhɛtərəʊˈdʒiːnɪəs /

adjective

1. composed of unrelated or differing parts or elements

2. not of the same kind or type

3. chem of, composed of, or concerned with two or more different phases Compare homogeneous

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Usage

What does heterogeneous mean? Heterogeneous most generally means consisting of different, distinguishable parts or elements. The word is used in a more specific way in the context of chemistry to describe a mixture consisting of two or more different substances or the same substance in different phases of matter (such as ice and liquid water). In either sense, the state of being heterogeneous is heterogeneity. The general sense of heterogeneous is not as commonly used as the general sense of its opposite, homogeneous—which most often means consisting of parts or elements that are all the same. The word homogenous (which is spelled without a second e and is pronounced differently) can be used to mean the same thing. The word heterogenous is very similar in spelling but not in meaning. It’s used in the context of biology and medicine to refer to something that originated outside of the body or that is derived from another individual or species (such as a skin graft). Example: The exhibit features a heterogeneous mix of artifacts from different cultures and eras.

Other Word Forms

• heterogeneity
  noun
• heterogeneously
  adverb
• heterogeneousness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of heterogeneous

1615–25; < Medieval Latin heterogeneus < Greek heterogenḗs. See hetero-, gene, -ous

Explanation

Heterogeneous can be used to describe the diversity of nearly anything — populations, classrooms, collections. A heterogeneous array of immigrants passed through Ellis Island to help create the American "melting pot." An easy way to remember the meaning of this word is that homo is the same and hetero is different. So, a homogeneous group of puppies might consist of apricot-colored poodles, while a heterogeneous group might consist of a hodgepodge of different pups ranging from dachshunds to dalmatians. Anytime you are confronted with a group whose members are not all similar to one another, you have an opportunity to trot out heterogeneous.

Example Sentences

The company separately announced that it had been chosen to participate in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Heterogeneous Architectures for Quantum program.

From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026

Hung-Wei Tseng, a UC Riverside associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, has laid out a paradigm shift in computer architecture to do just that in a recent paper titled, "Simultaneous and Heterogeneous Multithreading."

From Science Daily • Feb. 21, 2024

Liu, C. C., Mou, C. Y., Yu, S. S. F. & Chan, S. I. Heterogeneous formulation of the tricopper complex for efficient catalytic conversion of methane into methanol at ambient temperature and pressure.

From Nature • Nov. 28, 2017

The Mishna, entitled Heterogeneous Mixtures, contains several curious horticultural particulars.

From Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 1 by Disraeli, Isaac

Heterogeneous nouns may at the same time be heteroclites, as in case of the first two examples above.

From New Latin Grammar by Bennett, Charles E. (Charles Edwin)