dissimilarity

D2I1S1S1I1M3I1L1A1R1I1T1Y4
UK/dɪˌsɪmɪˈlæɹɪti/

noun

A lack of similarity or a lack of likeness in appearance to something else.

Meanings

noundissimilarity (countable and uncountable, plural dissimilarities)

plural dissimilarities

  1. countableuncountableA lack of similarity or a lack of likeness in appearance to something else.
    1 more example

    The experiment was abandoned when one fine day spontaneous combustion of the pulverised coal in the container occurred, and a black cloud of the very finely divided fuel rose into the air by the force of the explosion, and was slowly wafted by the prevailing breeze over the town, upon which it descended with the resemblance of black snow, but with the dissimilarity that it did not melt.

    1940 May, “The Why and the Wherefore: Pulverised Fuel Experiment”, in Railway Magazine, page 318

    Synonyms: dissimilitude, nonresemblance, disparity, dissemblance, dissimilitude, unalikeness, unlikeness · Antonyms: similarity, resemblance, likeness, sameness

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA lack of similarity or a lack of likeness in appearance to something else.

More synonyms by meaning

nounthe quality of being dissimilar

Opposite
Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Translations

Esperanto malsimileco
  • malsimilecolack of similarity in appearance to something else
French dissimilitude
  • dissimilitudelack of similarity in appearance to something else
Irish éagsúlacht
  • éagsúlachtlack of similarity in appearance to something else
Portuguese dissimilaridade, dessemelhança
  • dissimilaridadelack of similarity in appearance to something else
  • dessemelhançalack of similarity in appearance to something else
Spanish desemejanza, disimilitud
  • desemejanzalack of similarity in appearance to something else
  • disimilitudlack of similarity in appearance to something else
Ukrainian несхо́жість
  • несхо́жість (nesxóžistʹ)lack of similarity in appearance to something else
Cite this entry
APA

dissimilarity. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dissimilarity

MLA

“dissimilarity.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dissimilarity. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dissimilarity,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dissimilarity.

Source: dissimilarity on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.