multivalent

adjective

mul·ti·va·lent | \ ˌməl-tē-ˈvā-lənt

, -ˌtī-

, especially in sense 3 ˌməl-ˈti-və-

Definition of multivalent

1 : polyvalent

2 : represented more than twice in the somatic chromosome number multivalent chromosomes

3 : having many values, meanings, or appeals

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It’s more accurate to see them as manifestations of a lifetime’s voracious, multivalent reading and looking—inventive mental collages or marvelous pastiches of unimaginably wide-ranging sources. — Karen Wilkin, WSJ, "‘Born to Be Posthumous’ Review: Peculiar, Cynical, Ironic & Witty," 21 Dec. 2018 The dissonance between the soap-bubble gleam of the ideal and the jagged loneliness that lies within is the animating force at the heart of this touchingly multivalent work. — Jeremy Eichler, BostonGlobe.com, "Behind the white picket fence, portraits of a jagged loneliness," 13 May 2018 Beyond the realm of VH1, drag is a multivalent art form with a complex and stratified history. — Wilder Davies, Time, "RuPaul’s Drag Race and What People Get Wrong About the History of Drag," 9 Mar. 2018 Both women’s ambitious works take on multivalent subjects challenging to render in movement. — Claudia Bauer, San Francisco Chronicle, "ODC premieres take on the world," 31 Jan. 2018 Carrington has become a multivalent force in recent decades as a Berklee College of Music professor, producer, entrepreneur and Grammy Award-winning bandleader who’s turned her focus to creating opportunities for women instrumentalists. — Andrew Gilbert, The Mercury News, "High-flying Wayne Shorter brings famed quartet to San Francisco," 26 Apr. 2017 China Miéville is one of those fiction writers whose multivalent imagination — with its monsters, cityscapes of the future, and battles between good and evil — is capable of making readers’ heads explode. — John Williams, New York Times, "Tell Us 5 Things About Your Book: China Miéville on the Russian Revolution," 7 May 2017

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