disparate
- 01 C1 Advanced
adj.made up of things that are very different from one another and have no obvious connection.
adj.composed of inherently different or distinct elements that are often incongruous or difficult to reconcile.
Simple“The team was made up of a disparate group of people with very different backgrounds.”
In context“The collection brought together disparate elements of mid-century design and modern industrial aesthetics into a surprisingly cohesive exhibition.”
UsageUsually used to describe a group, collection, or set of ideas.
Teacher's tipLearners often confuse this with 'different'. Emphasize that 'disparate' implies the things are so different they shouldn't naturally be together.
SynonymsAntonyms - 02 C2 Proficiency
n.things that are so different they cannot be compared.
n.things that are fundamentally unequal or dissimilar; typically used in the plural to refer to a set of unrelated items.
Simple“It is difficult to find a common theme among such disparates.”
In context“The philosopher argued that attempting to categorize such disparates under a single heading was a logical error.”
UsageAlmost exclusively used in the plural form 'disparates'.
Teacher's tipThe noun form is very rare and mostly found in academic or philosophical texts.
Synonymsdissimilarities
“What unites the seemingly disparate works is their function: to tell a story, often in a single frame, as Lucas’s co-founder and wife, Mellody Hobson, told members of the press on Wednesday.”
“The plates continue to spin at Ibrox as McInnes attempts to put order on all of this, to forge a coherent team from all the disparate parts.”
First attested in 1586; either borrowed from Middle French desparat or directly from Latin disparātus, perfect passive participle of disparō (“to divide”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and -ate (noun-forming suffix)), from dis- (“apart”) + parō (“to arrange”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European dwóh₁ (“two”) and the root per- (“carry forth”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.