dissimilar
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dissimilar
Explanation
If your sister has dark skin and dark hair, and you have fair skin and fair hair, people might say that your looks are dissimilar or not alike. Inside of dissimilar you find similar which means alike. By now, you've probably figured out that dis at the beginning of a word tells you the word means the opposite of whatever comes after. That rule holds here. Dissimilar is the opposite of similar. You've probably heard that you should not use double negatives. Well with dissimilar, it's okay to say something like, "Art is not dissimilar to music in that it is a creative activity. Here, "not dissimilar" means similar.
Vocabulary lists containing dissimilar
100 SAT Words Beginning with "D"
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Power Prefix: Dis-
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"The MGMT Solution," Vocabulary from Chapter 10
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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.
I always say that dating is not all that dissimilar from making friends.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026
Anita Asante: Maresca's playing style is not that dissimilar to Pep's so there is not this massive change in terms of the team's identity.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
The circumstances leading to Hilton’s distressing livestream and Pearl’s filmed execution are entirely dissimilar.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
That tumult was especially pronounced last week, as traders took a more discerning look at the market’s biggest AI players—with drastically dissimilar results.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
However dissimilar, we feel like an unexpected family.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
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.
