What does "different" mean?

1. (not the same) not the same as another person or thing. 2. (various or many) used to talk about many separate or various things. 3. (unusual) not like most other things; special or unusual. 4. (in a different way) in a way that is not the same.

How do you use "different"?

Commonly followed by the preposition 'from'. Often follows a number or a determiner like 'several' or 'many'.

different — meaning, definition & examples

Q: Is it correct to say "My car is different than yours."?

No — say "My car is different from yours.". In standard British and American English, 'different from' is the most widely accepted prepositional pairing.

Word

01not the same

A1 · Beginner

adj. not the same as another person or thing.

adj. not identical; exhibiting a lack of similarity in character, form, or nature.

“The two brothers are very different even though they look alike.”

“The results of the second experiment were remarkably different from the initial findings, suggesting that the temperature variable had been underestimated.”

Usage

Commonly followed by the preposition 'from'.

Pitfall

My car is different than yours.

My car is different from yours.

In standard British and American English, 'different from' is the most widely accepted prepositional pairing.

Synonyms

dissimilar unlike

Antonyms

same similar identical

02various or many

A2 · Elementary

adj. used to talk about many separate or various things.

adj. referring to various or assorted items within a group; distinct and separate.

“We visited three different museums during our trip to London.”

“The committee heard testimony from twelve different experts, each representing a unique sector of the renewable energy industry.”

Usage

Often follows a number or a determiner like 'several' or 'many'.

Synonyms

various assorted diverse

03unusual

B1 · Intermediate

adj. not like most other things; special or unusual.

adj. distinctive or unusual in a way that sets the subject apart from the norm.

“I like her style; it is very different and creative.”

“The director's approach to the classic play was certainly different, incorporating modern technology into a sixteenth-century setting.”

Synonyms

unusual unique distinctive

Antonyms

ordinary common

04in a different way

B2 · Upper Intermediate Informal

adv. in a way that is not the same.

adv. functioning as a manner adverb meaning 'differently'; common in specific collocations like 'think different'.

“You need to look at the problem different if you want to solve it.”

“The marketing campaign encouraged consumers to think different, challenging the established conventions of the personal computer industry.”

Teaching tip

While 'differently' is the standard adverb, 'different' is frequently used as an adverb in informal speech and famous advertising slogans.

Synonyms

differently otherwise

Antonyms

similarly

Common phrases and expressions where native English speakers use the word “different” in context.

01. different ways 02. different types 03. different way 04. different parts 05. concurrent different 06. different capacity 07. different manner 08. different mode 09. different approach 10. different kinds 11. different kind 12. different species

From Middle English different, from Old French different, from Latin differēns, present active participle of differō (“to differ”). See also differ. Supplanted native Old English ungelic (whence modern English unalike).

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

VERB

NOUN

ADJECTIVE

different(A1)

ADVERB

differently(A2)