diversified

American  

[dih-vur-suh-fahyd, dahy-] / dɪˈvɜr səˌfaɪd, daɪ- /

adjective

1. distinguished by various forms or by a variety of objects.

   diversified activity.

2. distributed among a judicious variety of types; balanced.

   Investments focused in a single industry, such as energy, are more vulnerable to market volatility than more diversified investments.

3. producing different kinds of goods, crops, etc., or expanded so as to do so.

   He owns a diversified farm, raising livestock, produce, and medicinal herbs.

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Other Word Forms

• nondiversified adjective
• quasi-diversified adjective
• undiversified adjective
• well-diversified adjective

Etymology

Origin of diversified

First recorded in 1605–15; diversify + -ed ²

Explanation

When something is diversified, it is diverse, meaning varied. If your investments are diversified, it means you have put money in more than one place: real estate, stocks, bonds, race horses, gold, alligator farms, and so on. Diverse comes from a medieval Latin word diversificare, meaning “make dissimilar.” If you have diversified something, you have made its parts different from each other. For example, if you want to make your diet more diversified, you make it a point to eat a wider variety of foods, or at least something beyond just scrambled eggs and macaroni and cheese.

Example Sentences

Real estate is also illiquid, requires upkeep, so you need a balanced, diversified retirement plan.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 16, 2026

It will give Yancoal greater scale and a more diversified business, by adding more steelmaking coal to its business, which relies mostly on thermal coal used in power generation for its profits.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

“Leggett & Platt’s strong engineering capabilities, diversified end users and cash-generating financial profile meaningfully enhance our global platform. This combination is consistent with our vertical integration strategy,” said Somnigroup Chief Executive Scott Thompson.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026

Third, investments are diversified across industries, geographies and credit strategies, which limits exposure to idiosyncratic shocks.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 13, 2026

A year before, Frost might have done one billion-dollar deal each month; now he was doing twenty, all of them insuring putatively diversified piles of consumer loans.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Related Words

• diverse
• varied