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.

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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

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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

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 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

Fisher’s note of late had come from his gargantuan contract and its mathematical disproportion to his meaningful wins.

From Washington Post • Oct. 10, 2021

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