Meaning & use
diverger
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Meanings
nouncountabletechnical
A person who tends to produce many different ideas or solutions rather than following one usual path.
Grammar: Countable: say 'a diverger' or 'divergers'; it names a type of person.
Patterns
- a diverger on a team
- a natural diverger
In the brainstorming study, the divergers came up with far more unusual ideas than the other participants.
She is a classic diverger: give her a problem and she will suggest ten different directions at once.
nouncountabletechnical
A person or thing that moves away or becomes different from a starting point or standard.
Grammar: Countable; often used with 'from' to name what is being left behind.
Patterns
- a diverger from something
- a diverger from the norm
Economists described the small country as a diverger from the region's common currency policy.
The report treats the firm as a diverger from standard safety practice.
Word forms
| plural | divergers |
|---|
Common combinations
- a creative diverger
- The lab hired a creative diverger to shake up its design process.
- a diverger from the norm
- As a diverger from the norm, he rarely chose the expected answer.
- identify divergers
- The test helps teachers identify divergers in a mixed classroom.
- a diverger and a converger
- Teams work best with both a diverger and a converger in the room.
Synonyms and how they differ
- divergent thinker
- Much more common in everyday English and clearer to general readers than the technical noun 'diverger'.
- nonconformist
- Focuses on refusing social or group rules, while a diverger simply generates many different options.
- innovator
- Suggests actually turning new ideas into results, whereas a diverger may only produce the ideas.
Opposites
Word family
- diverge verb
- to move apart or become different from something
- divergent adjective
- developing in different directions; not alike
- divergence noun
- the act or state of moving apart or differing
- divergently adverb
- in a way that moves apart or differs
Commonly confused: diverger or divergent? diverger or divergence?
diverger vs divergent
'Divergent' is the adjective ('divergent thinking'), while 'diverger' is the person who does that kind of thinking.
diverger vs divergence
'Divergence' is the abstract noun for the difference itself; a 'diverger' is a person or thing that differs.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'diverger' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Diverger' is a countable noun for a person, so 'a natural diverger' fits. Options 1 and 4 use it as a verb, where 'diverge' is needed, and option 3 uses it as an adjective, where 'divergent' is needed.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “diverger”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.