differ
Americanverb (used without object)
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differs,
present (3rd person singular)
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differed,
past participle, past
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differing
present participle
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to be unlike, dissimilar, or distinct in nature or qualities (often followed byfrom ).
The two writers differ greatly in their perceptions of the world. Each writer's style differs from that of another.
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to disagree in opinion, belief, etc.; be at variance; disagree (often followed by with orfrom ).
His business partner always differs with him.
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Obsolete. to dispute; quarrel.
verb
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(often foll by from) to be dissimilar in quality, nature, or degree (to); vary (from)
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to be at variance (with); disagree (with)
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dialect to quarrel or dispute
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to end an argument amicably while maintaining differences of opinion
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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differsimple
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differssimple
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have differedperfect
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has differedperfect
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am differingprogressive
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are differingprogressive
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is differingprogressive
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have been differingperfect progressive
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has been differingperfect progressive
Past
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differedsimple
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had differedperfect
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was differingprogressive
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were differingprogressive
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had been differingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of differ
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English differren “to distinguish,” from Middle French differer “to put off, distinguish,” Latin differre “to bear apart, scatter, be different,” from dif- dif- + ferre “to bear, bring, carry”
Explanation
To differ is to be different, or to vary. Your list of favorite movies might differ from your sister's, especially if you like romantic comedies and she likes action films. Gas prices differ from state to state, and sometimes even from one side of the street to the other. Opinions on politics can often differ within a single family, and sometimes food preferences differ so much that no one can decide where to eat lunch. The verb differ can mean simply "be unlike," but it can also mean "clash" or "dissent." The Latin root, differre, combines dis, "away from," with ferre, "carry."
Vocabulary lists containing differ
"Making Faces"
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Shut Up, This Is Serious
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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.
See Examples For:
Since collapse models predict measurable effects that differ from standard quantum mechanics, extremely precise experiments could eventually help determine whether these ideas describe something real in nature.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026
Assisted suicide is legal in a number of countries - including Canada, Australia and Belgium - as well as in Switzerland, though the circumstances under which it is legal differ between those nations.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
Definitions of what makes a working-class voter differ depending on who you ask.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
Where they differ from the market consensus is they voice their opinion that inflation data has been more encouraging than expected with eurozone’s core consumer price index only up 2.4% year- over-year in August.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
How did they differ from each other, if they did at all?
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
The study, published in Science, found that the three-dimensional organization of the genome differs in certain brain cells from people with Alzheimer's disease.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026
The image Byfield presented in his 1840 memoir differs sharply from the one found in his later autobiography.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 7, 2026
The uncertainty comes on top of a voting system that already differs dramatically from state to state.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
I asked Arora how Deep Cogito’s approach differs from other techniques such as retrieval-augmented generation, which retrieves relevant proprietary data and business context and provides it to an AI model at inference time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Family structure, too, differs increasingly along class lines.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
They then used standard deviation to measure how far each group differed from the overall study average.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026
Italy's far-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, said that although their "backgrounds and perspectives differed, that never prevented me from acknowledging her significance and her role in our nation's public life".
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
They differed over whether that protection damned the Constitution or vindicated it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Román would make the decision “based on” a point system that differed from what was laid out in the original request for proposals, according to an addendum sent to the bidders.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
So he differed from him as much as he dared.
From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
With 20 countries, there are often differing opinions and factions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
What a strange season Nottingham Forest had last time, going through four managers and all with differing styles.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Cope gave differing measurements of the vertebra at various times, making it unclear quite how large it actually was.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
After eight Top 40 singles and a triple-platinum LP, the Bangles split in 1989 amid differing ideas about the band’s creative direction and ambitions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
What significance, if any, do the continents’ differing dates of settlement have for subsequent history?
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
