Standard Lemma guide

disparity

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /dɪˈspæɹɪti/
  • UK: /dɪˈspæɹəti/
  • UK: [dɪˈspæɹti]
  • General-American: /dɪˈspæɹɪti/ without the Mary–marry–merry merger
  • /dɪˈspɛɹɪti/ General American, Mary–marry–merry merger
  • [dɪˈspɛɹɪɾi] General American, Mary–marry–merry merger
  • /dɪˈspeɹɪti/ General American, Mary–marry–merry merger
  • Midwestern-US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • /dɪˈspɛɹəti/ General American, Mary–marry–merry merger, weak vowel merger
  • [dɪˈspɛɹɾi] General American, Mary–marry–merry merger, weak vowel merger
  • /dɪˈpeɹəti/ General American, Mary–marry–merry merger, weak vowel merger
  • Australian: /dɪˈspæɹɪti/
  • Australian: [dɪˈspæɹɪɾi]
  • CMU ARPABET: D IH0 S P EH1 R AH0 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The state of being unequal; difference.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Incongruity.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

inequality or difference in some respect

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: inequality

Narrower terms: far cry, gap, spread, gulf, disconnect, disconnection, disproportion

History

Etymology

From Middle French disparité, from Latin disparitātem, accusative of disparitās, from dispār + -tās, from dis- + pār. By surface analysis, dis- + parity.

Across languages

Translations

37 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: разлика (razlika) — the state of being unequal; difference
  • Bulgarian: неравенство (neravenstvo) — the state of being unequal; difference
  • Catalan: disparitat — the state of being unequal; difference
  • Dutch: ongelijkheid — the state of being unequal; difference
  • Dutch: onevenredigheid — the state of being unequal; difference
  • Finnish: eroavuus — the state of being unequal; difference
  • Finnish: erilaisuus — the state of being unequal; difference
  • French: disparité — the state of being unequal; difference
  • German: Differenz — the state of being unequal; difference
  • German: Unterschiedlichkeit — the state of being unequal; difference
  • German: Unterschied — the state of being unequal; difference
  • German: Disparität — the state of being unequal; difference
  • German: Ungleichheit — the state of being unequal; difference
  • Hindi: विषमता (viṣamtā) — the state of being unequal; difference
  • Persian: نابرابری (nâ-barâbari) — the state of being unequal; difference
  • Polish: nierówność — the state of being unequal; difference
  • Polish: nierównowaga — the state of being unequal; difference
  • Polish: rozbieżność — the state of being unequal; difference
  • Polish: rozstrzał — the state of being unequal; difference
  • Polish: rozrzut — the state of being unequal; difference
  • Polish: różnica — the state of being unequal; difference
  • Portuguese: disparidade — the state of being unequal; difference
  • Russian: нера́венство (nerávenstvo) — the state of being unequal; difference
  • Russian: разли́чие (razlíčije) — the state of being unequal; difference
  • Spanish: disparidad — the state of being unequal; difference
  • Swedish: ojämlikhet — the state of being unequal; difference
  • Ukrainian: нері́вність (nerívnistʹ) — the state of being unequal; difference
  • Ukrainian: різни́ця (riznýcja) — the state of being unequal; difference
  • Uzbek: tafovut — the state of being unequal; difference
  • Bulgarian: несъответствие (nesǎotvetstvie) — incongruity
  • Bulgarian: несъразмерност (nesǎrazmernost) — incongruity
  • German: Unvereinbarkeit — incongruity
  • German: Ungleichheit — incongruity
  • Russian: несоотве́тствие (nesootvétstvije) — incongruity
  • Russian: несоразме́рность (nesorazmérnostʹ) — incongruity
  • Ukrainian: розбі́жність (rozbížnistʹ) — incongruity
  • Ukrainian: невідпові́дність (nevidpovídnistʹ) — incongruity