undifferentiated

adjective un·dif·fer·en·ti·at·ed \ ˌən-ˌdi-fə-ˈren(t)-shē-ˌā-təd \

|Updated on: 13 Jul 2018

Definition of undifferentiated

: not divided or able to be divided into different elements, types, etc. : not differentiated

undifferentiated cells

an undifferentiated mass

See undifferentiated defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of undifferentiated from the Web

The gene activity data showed that even when the frog embryo appears to be an undifferentiated blob, its cells have begun to take on their eventual identities, say as a tail bud.

— elizabeth pennisi, Science | AAAS, "How one cell gives rise to an entire body," 26 Apr. 2018
What’s on screen now, however, is table-setting for events to come, a groaning board of superheroes, a superabundance of undifferentiated superpowers, and an ending that’s more exciting than anything that precedes it.

— joe morgenstern, WSJ, "Review: ‘Avengers’ Gets an Incomplete," 25 Apr. 2018
Conventional commodity exchanges favour bulk trading in undifferentiated products.

— The Economist, "Beneath the bruisesA new market for old and ugly fruit and vegetables takes shape," 11 Jan. 2018
Today the state has more than 100 distilleries — which is good news for craft spirits fans and the farmers who supply ingredients, but worrisome for a distiller looking at all that undifferentiated competition.

— clay risen, New York Times, "You’ve Heard of Tennessee Whiskey? Meet New York State Rye," 16 Oct. 2017
This difficulty in isolating specific people — really seeing them as sovereign beings rather than as an undifferentiated mass — is crucial to the meaning of the documentary, which charts the global refugee and migrant crisis.

— manohla dargis, New York Times, "Review: Ai Weiwei’s ‘Human Flow’ Tracks the Global Migrant Crisis," 12 Oct. 2017
Listening to all that music felt like sifting through a data dump, not like processing two albums—even Future's gooey AutoTune flow lost some of its sui generis punch in their undifferentiated mass.

— leor galil, Chicago Reader, "Hip-Hop / Music Chicago DJ Big Hank refashions Future’s flow for footwork on the new Streetwise," 2 Oct. 2017
The illustration is lighthearted, but this gesture of reduction—of complex peoples and histories to empty and headless outfits, interchangeable and undifferentiated—makes the joke feel clumsy and shallow.

— josephine livingstone, New Republic, "Does the Right Really Think a Sombrero is just a “Straw Hat”?," 21 Sep. 2017
Not just a digital version on undifferentiated glass, but no go-to screen point whatsoever?

— lisa eadicicco, Time, "The Way Your Use the Next iPhone May Be Totally Different," 30 Aug. 2017

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