multifarious
Americanadjective
-
having many different parts, elements, forms, etc.
-
numerous and varied; greatly diverse or manifold.
multifarious activities.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of multifarious
1585–95; < Late Latin multifārius many-sided, manifold, equivalent to Latin multifāri ( am ) on many sides + -us adj. suffix ( see -ous); see multi-, bifarious
Explanation
A person or thing with many sides or different qualities is multifarious. The Internet has multifarious uses, museums are known for their multifarious art collections, and Hindu gods are associated with multifarious incarnations. You can use the adjective multifarious to describe anything that has a lot of sides or aspects, and the 16th-century roots of the word come from multi-, or "many," parts or expressions. Comic actors who can morph their faces into a 1000 different looks are multifarious, and parents who can run businesses, coach soccer leagues, and tell good stories are pretty multifarious too.
Vocabulary lists containing multifarious
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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1984
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Grade 9, List 2
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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.
And he brought his multifarious interests to sometimes bewildered but almost always fascinated audiences with an assiduousness that remains incomparable—and amusing.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 30, 2025
Funding for past reinsurance has been creative and multifarious, lodged sometimes in Federal Reserve powers, sometimes in program authority to recoup through future premiums, or borrowing authority from the U.S.
From Slate • May 15, 2023
The cost of living in California is exorbitant, and so is campaigning for major office in this far-flung, multifarious state.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 27, 2023
It’s a funky march that revels in cosmic imagery, cross-rhythms and multifarious vocals: singing, chanting, making percussive sounds, high harmonies, husky low confidences and an occasional “la-la.”
From New York Times • Mar. 24, 2023
Like the Sun Belt or the Bible Belt, there exists, on this multifarious earth of ours, a Hair Belt.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
