disproportion

American  

[dis-pruh-pawr-shuhn, -pohr-] / ˌdɪs prəˈpɔr ʃən, -ˈpoʊr- /

noun

1. lack of proportion; lack of proper relationship in size, number, etc..

   architectural disproportions.

2. something out of proportion.

   the disproportions of an awkward body.

---

verb (used with object)

1. to make disproportionate.

disproportion British  

/ ˌdɪsprəˈpɔːʃən /

noun

1. lack of proportion or equality

2. an instance of disparity or inequality

---

verb

1. (tr) to cause to become exaggerated or unequal

Other Word Forms

• disproportionable adjective
• disproportionableness noun
• disproportionably adverb
• disproportional adjective

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.

Example Sentences

“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

The Congressional Budget Office and National Academy of Sciences, to name two sources that painstakingly documented the disproportion.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 2, 2023

That disproportion slights the postwar failure of his push to make a Christian Sparta among citizens more devoted to making money and buying consumer goods.

From Washington Post • Nov. 11, 2022

That this feeling of disproportion is fainter in the Broadway production than in 2018 may provide a clue to the answer.

From New York Times • Apr. 21, 2022

Tyrion Lannister had lived all his life in a world that was too big for him, but in the manse of Illyrio Mopatis the sense of disproportion assumed grotesque dimensions.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin