similarity

American  

[sim-uh-lar-i-tee] / ˌsɪm əˈlær ɪ ti /

noun

• similarities
  plural

1. the state of being similar; likeness; resemblance.

   Synonyms:

   parallelism, correspondence, similitude

   Antonyms:

   difference

2. an aspect, trait, or feature like or resembling another or another's.

   a similarity of diction.

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Synonym Usage

See resemblance.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonsimilarity
  noun
• unsimilarity
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• similarities
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of similarity

First recorded in 1655–65; similar + -ity

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Explanation

You might get annoyed if people keep saying there is a similarity between you and your older sister, particularly if you're tired of being compared to her. A similarity is a sameness or alikeness. When you are comparing two things — physical objects, ideas, or experiences — you often look at their similarities and their differences. Difference is the opposite of similarity. Both squares and rectangles have four sides, that is a similarity between them. Just because two things share similarities doesn't mean they are the same.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

similarity similarities

These often measure text similarity or overlap, but they don’t heavily penalize the tiny errors that should fail in a health setting.

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026

Still, other people’s reactions to their similarity only remind the sisters of the bond they can’t break.

From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026

The platform however argues it is a "generic male voice" whose perceived similarity to Tsuda's is subjective at best, according to court records accessed by AFP.

From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026

That similarity suggests the mysterious red objects could represent an early stage of extremely rapid black hole growth.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026

I had often watched a large dog of ours eating his food; and I now noticed a decided similarity between the dog’s way of eating, and the man’s.

From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens

Three decades after predicting the Asian crisis of 1997, one strategist pinpoints similarities between the financial contagion that spread across Asian economies then and the current AI investment boom that he thinks is a bubble.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026

Because of this mixture of similarities and differences, archaeologists have long struggled to determine how closely Tampa Bay was connected to the Mississippian heartland.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026

Stewart “concluded that the works contain substantial similarities in protectable musical expression, including repeated copying of the distinctively protectable melody,” the complaint alleges.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026

He concluded "that the works contain substantial similarities" including the "repeated copying" of the melody from Just The Two of Us, the documents said.

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026

But the differences between the siblings were greater than their similarities.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

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Related Words

• affinity
• analogy
• closeness
• coincidence
• comparison
• connection
• correlation
• harmony
• kinship
• parallel
• relationship
• resemblance
• sameness

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