disparate

1 of 2

adjective

dis·​pa·​rate ˈdi-sp(ə-)rət 

di-ˈsper-ət, 

-ˈspa-rət 

1

: markedly distinct in quality or character

music that combines disparate elements

Its disparate parts don't quite jell, and the ending feels rushed.

—Don Aucoin

The lawsuit alleges … disparate treatment based on race …

—Anthony G. Attrino

… if an employer's policy has a disparate impact on a protected class, like women, that policy could be deemed unlawful …

—Tom Spiggle

2

: containing or made up of fundamentally different and often incongruous elements

… a disparate collection of esoteric treasures.

—Teresa Levonian Cole

… a disparate group of accomplished individuals united by a single attribute …

—Jeff Williams

disparately adverb

disparateness noun

disparateness

2 of 2

noun

dis·​par·​ate·​ness

: the quality or state of being disparate

Did you know?

If you enjoy sorting different objects into separate categories, you're well prepared to understand the origins of disparate. The word, which first appeared in English in the 16th century, comes from the Latin verb disparāre, meaning "to divide, separate off, make different." Disparāre, in turn, comes from parāre, a verb meaning "to supply, provide, make ready or prepare." Other descendants of parāre in English include both separate and prepare, as well as repair, apparatus, and even the pugnacious vituperate ("to criticize harshly and usually publicly").

Synonyms of disparate

Adjective

• diverse
• different
• distinctive
• distinct

Choose the Right Synonym for disparate

different, diverse, divergent, disparate, various mean unlike in kind or character.

different may imply little more than separateness but it may also imply contrast or contrariness.

different foods

diverse implies both distinctness and marked contrast.

such diverse interests as dancing and football

divergent implies movement away from each other and unlikelihood of ultimate meeting or reconciliation.

went on to pursue divergent careers

disparate emphasizes incongruity or incompatibility.

disparate notions of freedom

various stresses the number of sorts or kinds.

tried various methods

Examples of disparate in a Sentence

Adjective

First during the nineteen-seventies, but with increasing momentum during the eighties, a loose community of physics researchers had begun to postulate that the disparate small particles that we learned about in high-school science class—electrons, for instance—were actually the varied vibrations of tiny open and closed looped strings. —Benjamin Wallace-Wells, New Yorker, 21 July 2008

The American border with Mexico is among the most economically disparate intersections in the world, but the cities on either side of the port looked almost identical—a spread of humble brick and cinder-block homes dotting a blanket of brown hills. —Cecilia Balli, Harper's, October 2006

I made the French lemon cream tart that Greenspan credits to Hermé and got disparate reactions. An American friend loved its creaminess and felt it had a comfortingly familiar texture; a British friend … said he missed the traditional sharp, gel-like custard. —Tamasin Day-Lewis, Saveur, November 2006

Like these imagined cities, identical twins are identical only in their blueprints. By the time they are born, they are already disparate in countless neurological and physiological ways that mostly we cannot see. —Frank J. Sulloway, New York Review, 30 Nov. 2006

The plan, as near as anybody outside Yahoo can make out, is to stitch all those disparate organizations into one huge Frankenstein's monster of a search engine that will strike terror into the hearts of all who behold it. —Lev Grossman, Time, 22 Dec. 2003

disparate notions among adults and adolescents about when middle age begins

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

While Anthropic focused on selling its chatbot to enterprises, OpenAI built its chatbot for the mass market and invested in multiple disparate initiatives, including video generation and shopping. —Los Angeles Times, 10 June 2026

As part of a multiyear effort to consolidate these various legacy networks into a single architecture, Lumen tapped AI to simplify the network, modernize workflows, and streamline the disparate data that lives across its ecosystem. —Sage Lazzaro, Fortune, 9 June 2026

In December, the Justice Department published a final rule effectively ending disparate impact liability under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color and national origin in any program or activity that receives federal financial assistance. —Sarah N. Lynch, CBS News, 9 June 2026

That included establishing a unified voice across the market’s 13 disparate divisions. —Jasmin Malik Chua, Footwear News, 8 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

borrowed from Latin disparātus "separate, distinct," from past participle of disparāre "to divide, separate off, make different," from dis- dis- + parāre "to supply, provide, make ready" (influenced in sense by association with dispar-, dispār "unequal, different") — more at pare

First Known Use

Adjective

1566, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

disparate

adjective

dis·​par·​ate

dis-ˈpar-ət, 

ˈdis-p(ə-)rət

: very different : unique in quality or character

disparately adverb

disparateness noun

disparity

dis-ˈpar-ət-ē

noun

Medical Definition

disparate

adjective

dis·​pa·​rate dis-ˈpar-ət  ˈdis-p(ə-)rət 

: indicating or stimulating dissimilar points on the retina of each eye