Meaning & use
differ
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Meanings
verbintransitive
To be unlike something or someone else in some way.
Grammar: No object; often followed by from: the two plans differ from each other.
Patterns
- differ from something
- differ in something
- differ greatly
Cats differ from dogs in the way they show affection.
The twins differ in height by only a few centimeters.
Customs differ widely from one region to another.
verbintransitiveformal
To hold a different opinion from another person.
Grammar: No object; used with with or on: I differ with you on that point.
Patterns
- differ with someone
- differ on something
- differ about something
I must differ with the mayor about the new parking rules.
The two scientists differ on what caused the extinction.
Experts differ over whether the tax will work.
Word forms
| third person singular | differs |
|---|---|
| past tense | differed |
| past participle | differed |
| -ing form | differing |
Common combinations
- differ widely
- Prices differ widely between shops in the same street.
- differ slightly
- The two versions differ slightly in their endings.
- differ markedly
- Their views on money differ markedly.
- agree to differ
- We could not settle the question, so we agreed to differ.
- opinions differ
- Opinions differ on whether the film is a comedy.
Synonyms and how they differ
- vary
- Vary describes change or range within one group or over time, while differ compares two or more specific things.
- disagree
- Disagree is used only for opinions, but differ can also describe physical or factual unlikeness.
- contrast
- Contrast, as a verb, emphasizes a striking difference seen when things are set side by side.
- diverge
- Diverge suggests two paths or views that were once close and move apart.
Opposites
Word family
- different adjective
- not the same
- difference noun
- the way in which things are unlike
- differently adverb
- in another way
- differing adjective
- not the same, varied
- differential noun
- a difference between rates or amounts
Commonly confused: differ or defer?
differ vs defer
Defer means to delay something or to yield to another person's judgment, and it sounds similar but has a different meaning.
Practice
My sister and I rarely quarrel, but we ______ on politics.
Choose one answer.
Differ on a subject means to hold different opinions about it. Vary does not take on in this sense, and defer means something else.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “differ”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.