heterogeneous

adjective

het·​ero·​ge·​neous ˌhe-tə-rə-ˈjēn-yəs 

ˌhe-trə-,

-ˈjē-nē-əs

: consisting of dissimilar or diverse ingredients or constituents : mixed

an ethnically heterogeneous population

heterogeneously adverb

heterogeneousness noun

Synonyms

• assorted
• eclectic
• indiscriminate
• kitchen-sink
• magpie
• miscellaneous
• mixed
• motley
• patchwork
• piebald
• promiscuous
• raggle-taggle
• ragtag
• varied

Examples of heterogeneous in a Sentence

the seating in the hall was a heterogeneous collection of old school desk chairs, wood and metal folding chairs, and even a few plush theater seats

Recent Examples on the Web

Over time, the adequacy of these labels has further eroded as Asian Americans and Latino/as have become even more heterogeneous. —Jane Hong / Made By History, TIME, 24 Jan. 2025

Expect to see a move toward a more heterogeneous security stack that will enable organizations to avoid single points of failure, balance risk and sidestep vendor lock-in. —Mike Wilson, Forbes, 22 Nov. 2024

For example, recent research from Yan Lu, Narayan Y Naik, and Melvyn Teo shows that hedge fund teams with heterogeneous educational backgrounds, academic specializations, work experiences, genders, and races outperform homogeneous teams after adjusting for risk and fund characteristics. —Bhakti Mirchandani, Forbes, 7 Jan. 2025

Though summits seek to govern relations among heterogeneous countries, they are tacitly ruled by a homogeneous set of ideologies and incentives. —Harper's Magazine, 2 Aug. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Medieval Latin heterogeneus (borrowed from Greek heterogenḗs "of different kinds," from hetero- hetero- + -genēs, adjective derivative of génos "ancestry, race, class, kind") + -ous — more at kin entry 1

First Known Use

1630, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

heterogeneous

adjective

het·​er·​o·​ge·​neous

ˌhet-ə-rə-ˈjē-nē-əs,

-nyəs

: differing in kind : consisting of dissimilar parts : mixed

a heterogeneous population

heterogeneously adverb

heterogeneousness noun

Medical Definition

heterogeneous

adjective

het·​ero·​ge·​neous ˌhet-ə-rə-ˈjē-nē-əs, ˌhe-trə-, -nyəs 

: not uniform in structure or composition

tumors which have a heterogeneous composition by reason of structure and presence of necrosis

—Year Book of Endocrinology

heterogeneously adverb