Meaning & use
diverse backgrounds
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Meaning
phraseplural
the different origins, cultures, or life experiences that people come from
Grammar: Always plural; it describes a group of people, not one person. You can say 'people from diverse backgrounds' or 'a diverse background' for one person.
Patterns
- people from diverse backgrounds
- students from diverse backgrounds
- come from diverse backgrounds
The new team was made up of people from diverse backgrounds.
Our school welcomes students from diverse backgrounds.
She has worked with colleagues from diverse backgrounds in several countries.
Common combinations
- people from diverse backgrounds
- The company wants to hire people from diverse backgrounds.
- students from diverse backgrounds
- The university supports students from diverse backgrounds.
- come from diverse backgrounds
- The singers come from diverse backgrounds.
- a diverse background
- He has a diverse background in science and art.
Synonyms and how they differ
- different backgrounds
- This is more general and simply means not the same; 'diverse backgrounds' often suggests variety and inclusion.
- mixed backgrounds
- This focuses on a combination of types, while 'diverse backgrounds' emphasizes a wide range.
Word family
- diverse adjective
- showing a lot of variety; made up of different types
- diversity noun
- the state of including many different types of people or things
- background noun
- a person's family, education, and experience
Commonly confused: diverse backgrounds or diversified?
diverse backgrounds vs diversified
This means 'made more varied', often in business; 'diverse' simply describes variety that already exists.
Practice
The festival attracts artists from _____.
Choose one answer.
The plural 'backgrounds' matches the plural 'artists'. 'A diverse background' is singular and would describe one artist, not many.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “diverse backgrounds”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.