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difference Definition

dif·fer·ence (dif′ər əns, dif′rəns)

noun

  1. condition, quality, fact, or instance of being different
  2. the way in which people or things are different; esp., a determining point or factor that makes for a distinct change or contrast
    1. the state of holding a differing opinion; disagreement
    2. the point at issue; point of disagreement
  4. a dispute; quarrel
  5. a discrimination or distinction in preference
  6. a significant effect on or change in a situation
  7. Math. the amount by which one quantity differs from another; remainder left after subtraction

Etymology: ME < OFr < L differentia < differens, prp. of differre: see differ

transitive verb -·enced′, -·enc′·ing

Rare to distinguish as or make different

difference Idioms

(it's the) same difference

Slang there is no difference

make a difference

  1. to have an effect; matter
  2. to change the outlook or situation

make no difference

to have no effect; not matter

split the difference

  1. to share the remainder equally
  2. to make a compromise

what's the difference?

Informal what does it matter?

difference Synonyms

difference

n.

  1. The quality of being different

    dissimilarity, disagreement, divergence, contrast, state of being different, nonconformity, contrariety, contrariness, deviation, opposition, antithesis, inequality, diversity, unlikeness, departure, lack of identity, lack of resemblance, variance, variation, discrepancy, separation, differentiation, distinctness, separateness, heterogeneity, dissimilitude, incongruity, asymmetry; see also contrast 1, variety 1.

    Antonyms agreement*, similarity*, resemblance. *

  2. That which is unlike in comparable things

    disparity, distinction, variance, deviation, departure, discrepancy, inconsistency, distinguishing characteristic, peculiarity, idiosyncrasy, exception, digression, contrast, unconformity, aberration, irregularity, anomaly, abnormality, contradistinction, deflection, interval; see also variation 2.

    Antonyms similarity*, likeness*, common ground.

  3. Personal dissension

    discord, estrangement, dissent, disagreement; see dispute.

make a difference

change, have an effect, affect; see matter 1.

split the difference*

compromise, meet halfway, come to an agreement, share; see agree, arbitrate.

what's the difference?*

what does it matter? what difference does it make? so what?*; see why.

difference Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • make: Prepared to make a difference: Research evidence on how some of America's best college programs prepare teachers of reading.
  • explain: And can you explain the difference between a PCT and PCG?
  • tell: If you can't tell the difference with this then perhaps you are blinded by money?
  • notice: Since the first use I've noticed a difference in the texture of my skin as well as brightness.
  • understand: It is vital to understand the real differences of experience within Britain's black communities.
  • highlight: Once you've selected the other version of the document it will then highlight the differences for you.

Preposition: between

  • sex: Physical and physiological differences between the sexes may cause a variation in toxic response.

Adjective modifier

  • significant: No significant differences were found between.. ... No increase in X was detected.
  • real: Even small amounts of capital can make a real difference to local services.
  • big: That makes a big difference, I assure you.
  • huge: A few hours of spare time can make a huge difference to the lives of older people.
  • cultural: In line with the aim of menus being designed around patients, recognizing cultural differences in the customer base is essential.
  • subtle: So far all our mutant mice displayed very subtle differences from wild type animals and did not require any special treatments for adverse effects.

Modifies a noun

  • equation: Hirota methods for nonlinear differential and difference equations, J. Satsuma ( Univ. of Tokyo, Japan ).

Noun used with modifier

  • gender: However, when the groups were considered separately some clear gender differences emerged, with only the men showing a significant rise in RMR.
  • sex: To extend the investigation to boys and examine sex differences.
  • goal: City and Sheffield United were inseparable on goal difference, so the Blades went up because they had scored more goals.
  • temperature: However, there are regions where temperature and/or salinity differences between water masses result in stratification.

Preposition: in

  • efficacy: There was no difference in the efficacy of the two regimens, with 1356 women in each group.

Preposition: of

  • opinion: Here there may be a legitimate difference of opinion.
difference Quotes

The biggest difference between Lillian as a grown-up and Lillian as a child was that she was taller.

—Feibleman, Peter

The great offices, whether permanent or parliamentary, which require mind now give social prestige, and almost only those. An Under-Secretary of State with »2,000 a year is a much greater man than the director of a finance company with »5,000, and the country saves the difference.

—Bagehot,Walter

Countless works in the social sciences reveal the inability of their authors to bear in mind the crucial difference between what may properly be called the logic of discovery and the logic of demonstration. The second isproperlysubjectto rules and prescriptions; the first isn't.

—Nisbet, Robert

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man. Twain The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, The law's delay, and the quietus which his pangs might take, In the dead waste and middle of the night, when Churchyards yawn In customary suits of solemn black, But that the undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns, Breathes forth contagion on the world, And thus the native hue of resolution, like the poor cat i' the adage, Is sicklied o'er with care, And all the clouds that lowered o'er our housetops, With this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action. 'Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished. But soft you, the fair Ophelia: Ope not thy ponderous and marble jaws, But get thee to a nunneryögo! See Shakespeare 753:74.

—Twain, Mark pseudonym of  Samuel Langhorne Clemens

What is the difference between burning and gassing people in ovens and doing it to a whole nation out in the open?

—Sihanouk, Prince Norodom

Most people are relieved to find a superior on whose judgment they can rest. That, indeed, is the difference between most people and Generals.

—Tuchman, BarbaraW(ertheim)

Like all young men, you greatly exaggerate the difference between one young woman and another.

—Shaw, George Bernard

The difference between the most dissimilar characters, between a philosopher and a common street porter, seems to arise not so much from nature, as from habit, custom and education

—Smith, Adam

  What is the difference between unethical and ethical advertising? Unethical advertising uses falsehoods to deceive the public; ethical advertising uses truth to deceive the public.

—Stefansson,Vilhjalmur

La seule diffe¤  rence incontestable n'est pas celle des sexes ou des a"  ges ou des forces, mais celle des vifs et des morts. The only incontestable difference isnot that of sexorage or strength, but that of the living and the dead.

—Cixous, He¤  le'  ne

I used to say of him that his presence on the field made the difference of 40,000 men.

—Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of

Information is any difference that makes a difference.

—Bateson, Gregory

It don't make no difference whether you do right or wrong, a person's conscience ain't got no sense, and just goes for him anyway.If I had a yaller dog that didn't know nomorethana person's conscience does Iwould poison him. It takes up more room than all the rest of a person's insides, and yet ain't no good, nohow. Tom Sawyer he says the same.

—Twain, Mark pseudonym of  Samuel Langhorne Clemens

  But that's always the way; it don't make no difference whether you do right or wrong, a person's conscience ain't got no sense, and just goes for him anyway.

—Twain, Mark pseudonym of  Samuel Langhorne Clemens

Dost thou not know that love respects no blood, Cares not for difference of birth or state?

—Dekker,Thomas

I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and Iö I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

—Frost, Robert Lee

There is more difference within the sexes than between them.

—Compton-Burnett, Dame Ivy

As a matter of fact, we both are, and the only difference between us is that I am trying to be, and you can't help it.

—Birkenhead, F(rederick) E(dwin) Smith, 1st Earl of

The believer will fight another believer over a shade of difference: the doubter fights only with himself.

—Greene, (Henry) Graham

That's the difference between us.You talk of art Mr Goldwyn, I think of money.

—Shaw, George Bernard

She dwelt among the untrodden ways Beside the springs of Dove, A maid whom there were none to praise And very few to love: Aviolet bya mossy stone Half hidden from the eye! öFair as a star, when only one Is shining in the sky. She lived unknown, and few could know When Lucy ceased to be; But she is in her grave, and, oh, The difference to me!

—Wordsworth,William

To rescue our children we will have to let them save us from the power we embody: we will have to trust the very difference that they forever personify.

—Jordan,June