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Dictionary Entry

disparate

Part of SpeechnounPronunciation/ˈdɪsp(ə)ɹət/Word FrequencyCommon (4.38)Curriculum FrequencyLess common (1)

(chiefly in the plural) Any of a group of unequal or dissimilar things.

In a Sentence

The committee struggled to reach a decision because its members had disparate opinions.

Published Usage Examples

And that includes these firefighters who paid the price and took the test and did real well and should have had the job but were stopped from getting the job because the mayor and others were afraid they would be sued for what you call disparate impact.

And, in effect, what-not "in effect," really, what this Indiana law has is what we call disparate impact.

This entry also appears in ReadingWillow Year 12 word lists, so students can move between the dictionary and year-level study sets.

Origin

From Latin disparatus, past participle of disparare ‘to separate, set apart’, meaning ‘unlike’.

Common Phrases

impact disparateelements disparatetreatment disparategroups disparate. disparateparts disparatedisparate twodisparate seemingly

Poetry examples for disparate

Excerpts from the ReadingWillow English Library collection.

Poetry examples are still being gathered for this entry. They will appear here once matching poems are available in the library.