disproportion
Americannoun
-
lack of proportion; lack of proper relationship in size, number, etc..
architectural disproportions.
-
something out of proportion.
the disproportions of an awkward body.
verb (used with object)
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disproportions,
present (3rd person singular)
-
disproportioned,
past participle, past
-
disproportioning
present participle
noun
-
lack of proportion or equality
-
an instance of disparity or inequality
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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disproportionablenessnoun
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disproportionableadjective
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disproportionaladjective
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disproportionablyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
disproportionsimple
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disproportionssimple
-
have disproportionedperfect
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has disproportionedperfect
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am disproportioningprogressive
-
are disproportioningprogressive
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is disproportioningprogressive
-
have been disproportioningperfect progressive
-
has been disproportioningperfect progressive
Past
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disproportionedsimple
-
had disproportionedperfect
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was disproportioningprogressive
-
were disproportioningprogressive
-
had been disproportioningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of disproportion
1545–55; dis- 1 + proportion; compare Middle French disproportion
Explanation
If you don’t think you got a fair share of cake at a birthday party, there might have been a disproportion in the way the cake was served. A disproportion is a lack of balance or equality. Disproportion contains the prefix dis- which means “not” or “away from,” and the noun proportion which means “a proper, equal share.” Therefore, disproportion refers to an unequal and improper share. This noun is usually used in a negative context to point out something that is imbalanced or unfair, such as a disproportion of funds, food, or freedoms. Disproportion is also used in reference to the body; if your feet seem too big, they are in disproportion to your body.
Vocabulary lists containing disproportion
"A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury
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The Prince and The Pauper
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A Dance with Dragons
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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:
“It is not a great disproportion between ourselves and others which produces envy, but on the contrary, a proximity,” wrote David Hume, the 18th-century philosopher and economist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
But the disproportion that Sordi brings to the part is essential to Risi’s argument, which is precisely that Silvio doesn’t fit the scale of his times.
From New York Times ● Feb. 2, 2023
This top-heavy treatment of the “Messiah” isn’t uncommon — that centerpiece “Hallelujah” can justify just about any level of choral disproportion.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 22, 2022
That doesn’t mean selling exceptional museum art to rectify the disproportion makes sense.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2022
His loyalty extended without disproportion to things, the patient, obstinate, reliable things that we use and get used to, the things we live by.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
In recent years, however, the disproportions have grown even more extreme.
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2023
“However, these programs do not constitute a proper and comprehensive response. The industry needs to be compensated for the disproportions and restore some balance to the ecosystem.”
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 24, 2021
Paradoxically, because advertisers can no longer target by age or gender, they have little recourse to remedy these disproportions.
From Salon ● Dec. 15, 2019
It offers one of the most remarkable disproportions between the precise personalism of its action and the overwhelming scope of its achievement.
From The New Yorker ● Jul. 8, 2015
The Christian mind awoke under a fascination, and, for a time, could only ejaculate its meanings in fragments, or hint them in vast disproportions, could only sing snatches of new tunes.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 06, No. 34, August, 1860 by Various
Dr. Mensendieck calls the dancing legs of the late Anna Pavlova monstrously disproportioned.
From Time Magazine Archive
Nearly all the great historic characters are impossible monsters, disproportioned by flattery, or by calumny deformed.
From The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 3 (of 12) Dresden Edition?Lectures by Robert Green Ingersoll
A man or woman assists in drawing 103 the load, which is frequently so massive as to appear disproportioned to the combined strength of man and beast.
From Odd Bits of Travel with Brush and Camera by Jr.
It seemed hard to believe that an animal of the size of a caribou could carry a burden apparently so disproportioned to his head and neck.
From On Canada's Frontier Sketches of History, Sport, and Adventure and of the Indians, Missionaries, Fur-traders, and Newer Settlers of Western Canada by Julian Ralph
But this rice had to be paid for at a price very disproportioned to that of bread.
From The Betrothed From the Italian of Alessandro Manzoni by Alessandro Manzoni
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.
