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.
Multifarious society … men and women skate by night in Vienna’s Heumarkt around 1910.
From The Guardian • Jan. 25, 2013
Multifarious are the grave subjects over which Cabinets fume, cleave, resign.
From Time Magazine Archive
Multifarious are the occasions in which individual interests require that events should be communicated with telegraphic celerity.
From A Morning's Walk from London to Kew by Phillips, Richard
Multifarious writings produced multifarious strictures; and public criticism reached to such perfection, that taste was generally diffused, enlightening those whose occupations had otherwise never permitted them to judge of literary compositions.
From Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 1 by Disraeli, Isaac
Multifarious reading," said Robertson, of Brighton, "weakens the mind like smoking, and is an excuse for its lying dormant.
From How to Get on in the World A Ladder to Practical Success by Calhoon, Major A.R.
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.
