discrepancy

noun

dis·​crep·​an·​cy di-ˈskre-pən-sē How to pronounce discrepancy (audio)
plural discrepancies
1
: the quality or state of disagreeing or being at variance
2
: an instance of disagreeing or being at variance

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 on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Chen has participated in both the supplier and wholesale sides of the alcoholic beverage three-tier system during his career and has witnessed the data discrepancy pain points under unstable policy change and nuanced market data in both segments. Nish Acharya, Forbes.com, 12 Sep. 2025 Quality is another discrepancy found in many competing bids. Lew Sichelman, Miami Herald, 12 Sep. 2025 Fans are pointing out everything from discrepancies in the time period of the costumes to the trailer’s unexpected steaminess. Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 10 Sep. 2025 Different reporters injected their own flare for the dramatic, which became the source of discrepancies in her story. Maureen Lee Lenker, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for discrepancy

Word History

Etymology

earlier discrepance in same sense (borrowed from Latin discrepantia, derivative of discrepant-, discrepans, present participle of discrepāre "to differ in sound, be out of tune, be inconsistent") + -ancy — more at discrepant

First Known Use

1579, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of discrepancy was in 1579

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Cite this Entry

“Discrepancy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discrepancy. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.

Kids Definition

discrepancy

noun
dis·​crep·​an·​cy dis-ˈkrep-ən-sē How to pronounce discrepancy (audio)
plural discrepancies
1
: the quality or state of being different : disagreement
a great discrepancy between the two reports
2
: something that is different or that disagrees
discrepancies in the firm's financial statements

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