Meaning & use
multiform
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Meanings
adjectivenot comparableliteraryformal
Existing in many different shapes, kinds, or forms.
Grammar: It describes something that appears in many forms; it is not used with 'more' or 'most'.
Patterns
- a multiform disease
- a multiform phenomenon
- multiform in nature
The disease is multiform, appearing in mild, severe, and drug-resistant versions.
Corruption is multiform and difficult to measure in a single index.
The artist's work is multiform, moving freely between painting, sculpture, and video.
adjectivenot comparabletechnicalliterary
Having several distinct appearances or stages.
Grammar: Often used in technical or literary descriptions of things that change shape over time.
Patterns
- a multiform deity
- a multiform process
- the multiform stages of something
In the myth, the god is multiform, taking the shape of animals, weather, and light.
The project passed through a multiform series of trials before it was approved.
Her poetry is multiform, shifting between strict meter and loose free verse.
Common combinations
- multiform disease
- The multiform disease has puzzled researchers for decades.
- multiform phenomenon
- Migration is a multiform phenomenon that no single theory explains.
- multiform in nature
- The problem is multiform in nature, involving law, economics, and culture.
- multiform expression
- Art is a multiform expression of human experience.
Synonyms and how they differ
- varied
- More natural in everyday speech; it simply means 'of many different kinds' without the literary tone.
- diverse
- Common in formal and academic writing; it emphasizes difference rather than many shapes or forms.
- manifold
- Also literary and formal, but it often means 'many in number' as well as 'of many kinds'.
Opposites
Word family
- multiformity noun
- The quality of having many different forms.
- form noun
- The shape or type that something has.
- multifaceted adjective
- Having many different sides or aspects.
Commonly confused: multiform or multiformity?
multiform vs multiformity
Multiform is the adjective ('a multiform problem'), while multiformity is the noun ('the multiformity of the problem').
Practice
Which sentence uses 'multiform' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Option 1 is correct because 'multiform' is an adjective meaning 'existing in many different forms', and it describes the illness. Option 0 is wrong because a committee is not described as multiform in this sense; option 2 is wrong because 'multiform' is not a verb; option 3 is wrong because 'multiform' is not a noun.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “multiform”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.