Meaning of different in English

different

adjective

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/ˈdɪf.ər.ənt/ us

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/ˈdɪf.ɚ.ənt/

not the same:

She seems to wear something different every day.

He's different now that he's been to college.

We're reading a different book this week.

Emily is very/completely/entirely different from her sister.

Emily and her sister are completely different.

There are many different types/kinds of bacteria.

Synonyms

dissimilar
diverse
heterogeneous formal

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

different

differentI like her haircut - it's different!
dissimilarThe twins may look alike, but they are quite dissimilar when it comes to personality.
diverseLondon is a culturally diverse city.
heterogeneousThey tested a heterogeneous population.

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informal

used when you think someone or something is unusual or shows bad judgment:

What do I think of your purple shoes? Well, they're certainly different.

More examples

Australia has its own cultural identity, which is very different from that of Britain.
You turn this dial to find a different radio station.
We sell 32 different flavours of ice cream.
Eggs are sorted into different sizes by a machine.
The word 'flight' has two different meanings : a plane journey, and the act of running away.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Different and difference

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Unique and unusual

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Related word

differently

Grammar

Different from, different to or different than?

The adjective different means ‘not the same’. When we compare two or more items, it is usually followed by from. We also use different to, especially in speaking: …

(Definition of different from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

different | American Dictionary

different

adjective

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/ˈdɪf·rənt, -ər·ənt/

not the same:

Monet and other Impressionists painted the same scene at different times of day to discover how the colors change in the different light.

The weather down here is a lot different than it is at home.

Emily is entirely different from her sister.

differently

adverb us

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/ˈdɪf·rənt·li, -ər·ənt·li/

I would have done things differently if I had the chance to do them over again.

Idioms

difference of opinion

have your differences

(Definition of different from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of different

different

The relative importance of these different outcomes is not usually taken into account [5-9].

From the Cambridge English Corpus

To keep population size constant we apply a rescaling that keeps the fractions in the different population subgroups unchanged.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Even though overwhelmingly working class, it was very different from that class taken in the round.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The probability of different outcomes at each branch was derived from data collected during this programme.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The two works have different aims and content.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Moreover, personal and institutional interpretation of an emotion could be quite different.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The outcomes of six different vaccination schedules were examined.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The 15 control isolates derived from 12 different farms.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Analysis suggests that the pre-vaccination patterns of measles and mumps infection in the different countries were similar.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The predictions for both cohorts are made under two different forces of infection.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Different hybridization patterns were given arbitrarily designations in each hybridization test.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In re-challenge experiments, each challenge was made with a different strain for each calf.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The figure of the consumer embodies a different view of the public.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Their translation style and source languages are different, though.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Their work attempts to offer terminological clarifications of the term "integration" and how it has been used in different works.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

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These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.