Word
asymmetry
Phoneticsasym·me·try
US/ˌeɪˈsɪmətɹi/
UK/eɪsˈɪmətɹi/
Definition
n. a lack of balance or equality between two sides or parts. It describes a situation where one side is different from the other.
n. the state or quality of being unequal or dissimilar in size, shape, or distribution. Often used in physics, mathematics, and social sciences to describe a lack of symmetry.
Examples
“The building has an interesting asymmetry in its design.”
“The team's success was due to the asymmetry in their strategy, which caught the opponents completely off guard.”
“In physics, the violation of parity symmetry in weak nuclear interactions led to the discovery of fundamental asymmetry in the universe's fundamental forces.”
Examples
simple
“The building has an interesting asymmetry in its design.”
contextual
“The team's success was due to the asymmetry in their strategy, which caught the opponents completely off guard.”
complex
“In physics, the violation of parity symmetry in weak nuclear interactions led to the discovery of fundamental asymmetry in the universe's fundamental forces.”
Real-World Examples
Common in science writing
“Researchers have discovered a thermal asymmetry deep beneath the surface across Mars' southern hemisphere.” “Small errors in how lasers strike a fast-moving target are expected in that environment, Johnson said, making it important to understand how much asymmetry an implosion can tolerate before performance is affected.” Etymology
From Ancient Greek ἀσυμμετρία (asummetría), from ἀσύμμετρος (asúmmetros) + -ία (-ía), from ἀ- (a-) + σύμμετρος (súmmetros); equivalent to a- + symmetry.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Word family
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/asymmetry