Meanings
- idiomaticNot in accord; in a state of disagreement.
In some contexts, German usage is at variance with English, e.g.: Ihr Büro ist im vierten Stock Her office is on the fourth floor
2011, Martin Durrell, A. E. Hammer, Hammer's German Grammar and Usage, 5th edition, London: Hodder Education, →ISBN1 more example
Bill Clinton was elected on an untenable premise: that it is the job of the President to manage the economy. Yes, that is what we have come to expect of Presidents; but this expectation, the author argues, is punishingly at variance with anything any President can credibly deliver[.]
1993 July 28, Charles R. Morris, “It's Not the Economy, Stupid”, in The Atlantic, →ISSN, archived from the original on 28 Nov 2025Synonyms: at odds, discrepant, discordant, dissonant
Synonyms & antonyms
prepositional phraseNot in accord; in a state of disagreement.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivenot in accord
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Cite this entry
at variance. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/at%20variance
“at variance.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/at%20variance. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “at variance,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/at%20variance.
Source: at variance on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.