Definition of discrepancy
discrepancies
1 : the quality or state of disagreeing or being at variance
2 : an instance of disagreeing or being at variance
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Examples of discrepancy in a Sentence
Dr. Derman, who spent 17 years at Goldman Sachs and became managing director, was a forerunner of the many physicists and other scientists who have flooded Wall Street in recent years, moving from a world in which a discrepancy of a few percentage points in a measurement can mean a Nobel Prize or unending mockery to a world in which a few percent one way can land you in jail and a few percent the other way can win you your own private Caribbean island. —Dennis Overbye, New York Times, 9 Mar. 2009
Why the difference? Why are some individuals so outwardly altered by time and others not? Or, in other words, why is there often a discrepancy between chronological age and biological age? —Time, 17 Oct. 2005
If an article is on one machine but not the other, a copy is made to eliminate the discrepancy. —Simson Garfinkel, Technology Review, November 2001
The discrepancy can't be written off simply as lack of data, because it shows up in one of the best-studied periods in Earth's history … —Tim Appenzeller, Science, 12 Feb. 1993
Discrepancies in the firm's financial statements led to an investigation.
There were discrepancies between their accounts of the accident.
Recent Examples of discrepancy from the Web
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IS has carried two statements claiming responsibility for the attack, but there have been discrepancies.
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The discrepancy has thrust Vnesheconombank, known for advancing the strategic interests of Russian President Vladimir Putin and for its role in a past U.S. espionage case, into the center of the controversy enveloping the White House.
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The City of Fort Lauderdale’s Economic Crimes Unit began investigating the discrepancies on Arena’s card and arrested him Thursday morning.
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Gen. Noriega had once listed the year as 1938 and never cleared up the discrepancy.
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The claim put the death toll at 32, but there was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy.
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And in Game Six, the referees called almost twice as many fouls against the Kings as the Lakers, an abysmal discrepancy that some Kings fans feel was a plot to keep the small-market Kings from beating the mighty Lakers.
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Other cities alleged similar levels of discrepancies between white and minority borrowers.
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A number of male X Games athletes offered their own perspective on the gender discrepancy at the X Games and in extreme sports in general.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'discrepancy'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of discrepancy
see discrepant
First Known Use: 1579
DISCREPANCY Defined for English Language Learners
discrepancy
playDefinition of discrepancy for English Language Learners
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: a difference especially between things that should be the same
DISCREPANCY Defined for Kids
discrepancy
playDefinition of discrepancy for Students
: a difference between things that are expected to be the same There is a discrepancy in the records.
Learn More about discrepancy
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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for discrepancy Spanish Central: Translation of discrepancy Nglish: Translation of discrepancy for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of discrepancy for Arabic speakers
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