dichotomy

noun di·chot·o·my \ dī-ˈkä-tə-mē also də- \

|Updated on: 11 Jul 2018

Examples: dichotomy in a Sentence

Editor's Note: dichotomy and false dichotomy

Definition of dichotomy

plural dichotomies

1 : a division into two especially mutually exclusive or contradictory groups or entities

the dichotomy between theory and practice

; also : the process or practice of making such a division

dichotomy of the population into two opposed classes

2 : something with seemingly contradictory qualities

it's a dichotomy, this opulent Ritz-style luxury in a place that fronts on a boat harbor
—Jean T. Barrett

3 : the phase of the moon or an inferior planet in which half its disk appears illuminated

4 a : bifurcation; especially : repeated bifurcation (as of a plant's stem)

b : a system of branching in which the main axis forks repeatedly into two branches

c : branching of an ancestral line into two equal diverging branches

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Examples of dichotomy in a Sentence

The amusing spectacle of the recent presidential vote in Florida should remind us of the persistence of the federal-state dichotomy. —Eugene Genovese, Atlantic, March 2001
At the close of this millennium, the favored dichotomy features a supposed battle called "the science wars." —Stephen Jay Gould, Science, 14 Jan. 2000
… to insist on its being either symbol or fact is to dwell needlessly on a false dichotomy. —Simon Schama, The Embarrassment of Riches, 1988
… the Inuit concept of their environment was centred around the dichotomy between land and sea. —Ian Hodder, Reading the Past, 1986
Her essay discusses the dichotomy between good and evil in the author's novels.
her outfit is a sartorial dichotomy: an elegant gown and ratty old tennis shoes

Recent Examples of dichotomy from the Web

The dichotomy raises the unique challenge of figuring out how to manage our diet in an environment that has shifted, relatively abruptly, from scarcity to abundance.

— nick heil, Outside Online, "Blame Your Junk Food Cravings on Your Unhealthy Brain," 3 July 2018
Sonically, the songs thrived on dichotomies of loud/soft and pretty/grating; the effect was less to gild aggression with sweetness than to wring drama and verisimilitude from the feeling of internal conflict.

— spencer kornhaber, The Atlantic, "What Linkin Park Gave to Pop Music," 25 June 2018
The reeling Cavaliers are therefore left to ponder this painful truth: When the Warriors are clicking properly, Curry versus Durant looks less like a debate and more like a false dichotomy.

— ben golliver, SI.com, "Steph Curry and Kevin Durant Put Their Tug-of-War Behind Them," 4 June 2018
That dichotomy can be seen in the 7th districts of New Jersey and Texas.

— jonathan allen /, NBC News, "The Republican majority is in trouble. Does the GOP want Trump's help saving it?," 25 Mar. 2018
Diane, who plays Maritza Ramos on OITNB, talked about the dichotomy between wanting any work in Hollywood and wanting to seek out characters that are real and three-dimensional.

— claire dodson, Teen Vogue, "Dear White People, Orange Is the New Black Actors Talk Representation in Hollywood," 2 June 2018
The dichotomy would only become more pronounced with the passage of the ePrivacy law, putting onerous requirements on companies that operate in the E.U., while those in the U.S. charge ahead.

— maya kosoff, The Hive, "The Next Big Anti-Tech Backlash Is Just Beginning," 29 May 2018
This dichotomy between Han and Luke augments the broad appeal of the original three films.

— t.j. furman, Philly.com, "Han Solo or Luke Skywalker? This 'Star Wars' fan made his choice a long time ago," 21 May 2018
Some companies market their products to parents in the app store — and to jealous boyfriends elsewhere The complexity doesn’t stop with this dichotomy between dual-use apps and overt spyware.

— nicki dell, karen levy, damon mccoy, Vox, "How domestic abusers use smartphones to spy on their partners," 21 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dichotomy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

dichotomy and false dichotomy

The two most commonly used senses of dichotomy are easily (and often) confused. The older one refers to the division of something into two groups that often are mutually exclusive or contradictory (as in “the dichotomy between good and evil”). Like trichotomy (meaning “division into three parts”), this sense denotes separation into different elements, but it adds the connotation of oppositeness. The newer sense of dichotomy denotes a thing that appears to have contradictory qualities, such as a lemonade stand found in a war zone. Dichotomy is frequently found in the company of the word false; a false dichotomy is a kind of fallacy in which one is given only two choices when in fact other options are available.

Origin and Etymology of dichotomy

borrowed from New Latin dichotomia, borrowed from Greek dichotomía "division into two parts (of the moon, in logic), bisection," from dichótomos "cut in half, dichotomous" + -ia ¹-ia

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1610

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year