disagreement
Americannoun
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disagreements
plural
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the act, state, or fact of disagreeing.
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lack of agreement; diversity; unlikeness.
a disagreement of colors.
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difference of opinion; dissent.
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quarrel; dissension; argument.
noun
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refusal or failure to agree
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a failure to correspond
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an argument or dispute
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of disagreement
First recorded in 1485–95; from Anglo-French, Middle French desagrement; equivalent to disagree + -ment
Explanation
A disagreement is a type of conflict, either between people or ideas. No it’s not! Yes it is! It’s an argument. If your opinion contradicts the facts, there's a disagreement. When ideas conflict, there's disagreement. If you want to go to an action movie, but your friend wants to go to a romantic comedy, that's a disagreement. Statements, opinions, and claims can also disagree. If I say my grandmother was a sweet woman, and you say she was a horrible person, that's disagreement. If the IRS finds a disagreement between your taxes and your real income, you could be in trouble.
Vocabulary lists containing disagreement
President Biden's Inaugural Speech (January 2021)
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Part 1 Vocabulary (Unit 1)
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Speaking and Listening - Introductory
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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.
See Examples For:
Two teams of astronomers were trying to resolve a long-running disagreement over how much matter the universe contained.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 18, 2026
But even within confederations, there is disagreement and it makes it very difficult to predict whether Infantino or his opponents have the upper hand in this battle.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Kashani said demand for robot delivery isn’t slowing down, and the decline in revenue was due to Serve’s disagreement with Uber.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
The disagreement between Burgum and Pirro, two longtime loyalists of the president, marked an unusual example of the administration feuding publicly with itself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026
The topic of disagreement is unknown, but likely concerned species formation, variation, and heredity.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Beyond the dispute over Raman’s leadership of the committee, there are clear policy disagreements between the mayor and the council member over the best way to combat the crisis.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
Divisive primaries happen for a reason; they can help parties work out policy disagreements or stress-test candidates’ mettle.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
But after a series of disagreements with the owner, she handed in her notice and left in August 2025.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
But even more central to their disagreements, Skidelsky contends, was Hayek’s propensity “to equate moral values with market values.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
When it came to our disagreements, Dr. Woodchurch would never be the deciding vote.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
