variant

American  

[vair-ee-uhnt] / ˈvɛər i ənt /

adjective

1. tending to change or alter; exhibiting variety or diversity; varying.

   variant shades of color.

2. not agreeing or conforming; differing, especially from something of the same general kind.

3. not definitive, as a version of part of a text; different; alternative.

   a variant reading.

4. not universally accepted.

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noun

• variants
  plural

1. a person or thing that varies.

2. a different spelling, pronunciation, or form of the same word.

   “Vehemency” is a variant of “vehemence.”

3. Microbiology, Pathology. a form of a virus, bacterium, or other microorganism that arises from a strain of the microorganism when a mutation changes a small part of the strain’s genetic code.

variant British  

/ ˈvɛərɪənt /

adjective

1. liable to or displaying variation

2. differing from a standard or type

   a variant spelling

3. obsolete not constant; fickle

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noun

1. something that differs from a standard or type

2. statistics another word for variate

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonvariant
  adjective
• unvariant
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• variants
  plural

Etymology

Origin of variant

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English variaunt(e), variant(e) “undergoing change, tending to change, changeable,” from Old French, from Latin variant-, stem of variāns, present participle of variāre “to mark or adorn with different colors”; cf. various; see -ant

Explanation

A variant is another version of something. You could say chimps and apes and gorillas are variants in the primate family. Words often have variants, spellings that vary from region to region or country to country. The British colour and the American color are variants. When a movie or TV show is remade or casts a new actor — like with the string of James Bonds — you could call those movies variants. Where there are variants, there is variety — things aren't all the same.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

variant variants

“However, Public Health is awaiting subsequent variant testing, which can take several weeks.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

The last known rabid raccoon in Los Angeles County was detected in 1973, when a skunk variant of rabies was still present in the area.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

The problem had threatened to complicate certification of Boeing’s longest and final variant of its bestselling 737, the MAX 10.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

"The fact this outbreak variant was able to spread to so many young people was due to the social environment, a place where lots of close social mixing takes place."

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

These variant qualities were hereditary—carried as discrete instructions in sperm and eggs.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Like hands, all amino acids exist as two mirrored variants, but only one of them is found in the proteins in the body's cells.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

This technique examines the portions of DNA that contain instructions for making proteins, allowing scientists to search across thousands of genes for unusual variants shared by affected individuals.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026

The latest Geran “Seeker” variants use object recognition, allowing the drone to recognize targets and lock onto them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

“Just as an atlas is a collection of maps, linking together features of the land like altitude and location, AlphaGenome Atlas charts the molecular effects of DNA variants across the genome.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

What impetus drove the descent of, say, thirteen variants of finches down the fierce rivulets of speciation?

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Related Words

• modification
• variation