discrepancy
- 01 C1 Advanced
a difference between two things that should be the same, which often suggests an error.
a lack of agreement or consistency between facts, figures, or claims. Often used in financial or investigative contexts to indicate a potential error or fraud.
Simple“The accountant found a large discrepancy between the bank statement and the company records.”
In context“The forensic audit revealed a significant discrepancy between the reported earnings and the actual cash flow, prompting a deeper investigation into the firm's practices.”
UsageOften used with the prepositions 'between' or 'in'.
Teacher's tipThis is a high-frequency word in business and academic English. It is more formal than 'difference' and usually implies that something is wrong or needs explaining.
SynonymsAntonyms
Usage apparent discrepancy
“Perhaps this explains the wild discrepancy between City Foden (17 major trophies) and England Foden (a goal on average every 18 months).”
“The group did not immediately explain the discrepancy with the army’s account that the soldiers had been held since the April 25 attacks.”
Borrowed from Latin discrepantia, from discrepans, from discrepō, from crepō. By surface analysis, discrepant + -cy. See also discrepant.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.