variety

noun va·ri·e·ty \ və-ˈrī-ə-tē \

Updated on: 26 Apr 2018

Definition of variety

plural varieties

1 : the quality or state of having different forms or types : multifariousness

2 : a number or collection of different things especially of a particular class : assortment

3 a : something differing from others of the same general kind : sort

b : any of various groups of plants or animals ranking below a species : subspecies

4 : variety show

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Examples of variety in a Sentence

I was surprised by the variety of the choices that were available.
My life needs more variety.

Recent Examples of variety from the Web

There's a variety of things that could have happened.

— Fox News, "Press roughs up Comey," 23 Apr. 2018
Some of the holes have triple-level greens, and there are a variety of distances.

— tom smith, kansascity, "Legends of Golf players try out new Mountain Top course, and more are on the way to area near Branson | The Kansas City Star," 21 Apr. 2018
There will always be a variety of words used to describe drugs.

— angela chen, The Verge, "Why it can be okay to call it ‘marijuana’ instead of ‘cannabis’," 19 Apr. 2018
There will be a wide variety of food for at the festival, including Hunter’s Steakhouse, Cousins Maine Lobster, Original Herbivore, Mangia Mangia Mobile, Kona Ice, Delish Dogs and Earth Made Snow Cones.

— emily sorensen, Pomerado News, "Spring Family Festival is Sunday," 18 Apr. 2018
There are a variety of programs that help people with down payments, closing costs or other services.

— Washington Post, "Landing the right house in a tough market for homebuyers," 18 Apr. 2018
There are a variety of programs that help people with down payments, closing costs or other services.

— sarah skidmore sell, USA TODAY, "Home-buying tips: How to land the right house in a tough market for buyers," 18 Apr. 2018
There are a whole variety of unhealthy behaviors related to being up late in the dark by yourself.

— josh magness, miamiherald, "Are you a night owl? The answer determines your risk of an early death, study finds | Miami Herald," 12 Apr. 2018
There will also be a variety of food concessions, offering different types of Asian cuisines.

— staff report, Houston Chronicle, "25th Annual Japan Festival slated for April 14-15," 11 Apr. 2018

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

Origin and Etymology of variety

borrowed from Medieval French or Latin; Medieval French varieté, borrowed from Latin varietāt-, varietās, from varius "having contrasting colors, ¹various" + -etāt- -etās, variant of -itās -ity

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year