disparate
adjective
dis·pa·rate
ˈdi-sp(ə-)rət 
di-ˈsper-ət,
-ˈspa-rət
1
: markedly distinct in quality or character
2
: containing or made up of fundamentally different and often incongruous elements
disparately
adverb
disparateness
noun
Did you know?
If you enjoy sorting different objects into separate categories, you're well prepared to understand the origins of disparate. The word, which first appeared in English in the 16th century, comes from the Latin verb disparāre, meaning "to divide, separate off, make different." Disparāre, in turn, comes from parāre, a verb meaning "to supply, provide, make ready or prepare." Other descendants of parāre in English include both separate and prepare, as well as repair, apparatus, and even the pugnacious vituperate ("to criticize harshly and usually publicly").
Examples of disparate in a Sentence
First during the nineteen-seventies, but with increasing momentum during the eighties, a loose community of physics researchers had begun to postulate that the disparate small particles that we learned about in high-school science class—electrons, for instance—were actually the varied vibrations of tiny open and closed looped strings.
—
Benjamin Wallace-Wells, New Yorker, 21 July 2008
The American border with Mexico is among the most economically disparate intersections in the world, but the cities on either side of the port looked almost identical—a spread of humble brick and cinder-block homes dotting a blanket of brown hills.
—Cecilia Balli, Harper's, October 2006
I made the French lemon cream tart that Greenspan credits to Hermé and got disparate reactions. An American friend loved its creaminess and felt it had a comfortingly familiar texture; a British friend … said he missed the traditional sharp, gel-like custard.
—Tamasin Day-Lewis, Saveur, November 2006
Like these imagined cities, identical twins are identical only in their blueprints. By the time they are born, they are already disparate in countless neurological and physiological ways that mostly we cannot see.
—Frank J. Sulloway, New York Review, 30 Nov. 2006
The plan, as near as anybody outside Yahoo can make out, is to stitch all those disparate organizations into one huge Frankenstein's monster of a search engine that will strike terror into the hearts of all who behold it.
—Lev Grossman, Time, 22 Dec. 2003
disparate notions among adults and adolescents about when middle age begins
Benjamin Wallace-Wells, New Yorker, 21 July 2008
The American border with Mexico is among the most economically disparate intersections in the world, but the cities on either side of the port looked almost identical—a spread of humble brick and cinder-block homes dotting a blanket of brown hills.
—Cecilia Balli, Harper's, October 2006
I made the French lemon cream tart that Greenspan credits to Hermé and got disparate reactions. An American friend loved its creaminess and felt it had a comfortingly familiar texture; a British friend … said he missed the traditional sharp, gel-like custard.
—Tamasin Day-Lewis, Saveur, November 2006
Like these imagined cities, identical twins are identical only in their blueprints. By the time they are born, they are already disparate in countless neurological and physiological ways that mostly we cannot see.
—Frank J. Sulloway, New York Review, 30 Nov. 2006
The plan, as near as anybody outside Yahoo can make out, is to stitch all those disparate organizations into one huge Frankenstein's monster of a search engine that will strike terror into the hearts of all who behold it.
—Lev Grossman, Time, 22 Dec. 2003
disparate notions among adults and adolescents about when middle age begins
Recent Examples on the Web
Worse, many of those disparate tool sets don’t share information, leaving organizations that want to understand the big picture to synthesize them on their own.
—Manoj Srivastava, Forbes.com, 21 Apr. 2025
Shot at Maine North High School in Des Plaines, Ill., The Breakfast Club saw five disparate archetypical high schoolers come together, form unforgettable bonds and go through adolescent growing pains during one Saturday detention under the watchful eye of a domineering principal.
—Glenn Garner, Deadline, 17 Apr. 2025
The Blue Jackets are among the league leaders in two completely disparate categories.
—Aaron Portzline, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2025
The anime auteur responsible for Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo has been rewriting the rules of anime music since the ’90s, subverting tropes, reimagining genres, and weaving together disparate signifiers from the past and future to tell deeply affecting stories that speak to our present.
—Matthew Ismael Ruiz, Vulture, 1 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for disparate
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Manoj Srivastava, Forbes.com, 21 Apr. 2025
Shot at Maine North High School in Des Plaines, Ill., The Breakfast Club saw five disparate archetypical high schoolers come together, form unforgettable bonds and go through adolescent growing pains during one Saturday detention under the watchful eye of a domineering principal.
—Glenn Garner, Deadline, 17 Apr. 2025
The Blue Jackets are among the league leaders in two completely disparate categories.
—Aaron Portzline, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2025
The anime auteur responsible for Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo has been rewriting the rules of anime music since the ’90s, subverting tropes, reimagining genres, and weaving together disparate signifiers from the past and future to tell deeply affecting stories that speak to our present.
—Matthew Ismael Ruiz, Vulture, 1 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for disparate
Cite this Entry
“Disparate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disparate. Accessed 26 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
disparate
adjective
dis·pa·rate
dis-ˈpar-ət
ˈdis-p(ə-)rət
ˈdis-p(ə-)rət
: indicating or stimulating dissimilar points on the retina of each eye
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