various
Americanadjective
-
of different kinds, as two or more things; differing one from another.
Various experiments have not proved his theory.
-
marked by or exhibiting variety or diversity.
houses of various designs.
- Synonyms:
- sundry
-
presenting or having many different qualities or aspects.
a woman of various talent.
- Synonyms:
- divers, varied, variegated, diversified
-
having a variety of colors; varicolored.
-
different from each other; dissimilar.
-
living at various hotels.
-
individual (in a group, class, kind, etc.); separate.
permission from various officials in Washington.
pronoun
determiner
adjective
-
of different kinds, though often within the same general category; diverse
various occurrences
his disguises are many and various
-
(prenominal) relating to a collection of separate persons or things
the various members of the club
-
displaying variety; many-sided
his various achievements are most impressive
-
poetic variegated
-
obsolete inconstant
Usage
What are other ways to say various? Various means “of different kinds” or “differing one from another.” How does various compare to different, distinct, and diverse? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of various
First recorded in 1545–55; from Latin varius “speckled, variegated,” hence “manifold, diverse”; see -ous
Explanation
Various describes several different kinds of things, like a candy shop that is home to various sweets, from lollipops to chocolate fudge. Various comes from the Latin word varius, meaning "changing, different, diverse." If you have various interests, you have a lot of them, and they represent a range — you might love hip hop, movies from the 1940s, fixing cars, and reading fashion magazines. Various can convey a high number, like when you say, "Various people want to get involved with the park clean-up." This means a lot of people want to help.
Vocabulary lists containing various
List 1
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"How Smart Are Animals?" Vocabulary from the science article
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List 8
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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.
Flash PMI data showed that business activity is diverging across different markets as geopolitical and macroeconomic conditions affect the private sector and inflation to various extents.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
We met with first-timers and pre-dating app pros, people of various backgrounds, races, ages and body types.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
In the past week, various negative factors converged to make investors even more nervous about a tech sector so highly tied to unyielding artificial-intelligence spending.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026
Treasury Minister Michael Crowe said his department was reviewing the various measures set out by the chancellor to understand what the implications might be for the island.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
Dozens of ships, in various shapes and sizes, were sailing together in a line that stretched for miles.
From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
