Meaning & use
vast diversity
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Meanings
phraseuncountable
An extremely large amount of variety among the members of a group or in a place.
Grammar: Used as an uncountable noun phrase: say 'a vast diversity of species', not 'vast diversities'.
Patterns
- vast diversity of something
- the vast diversity within something
- a vast diversity in something
The rainforest is famous for the vast diversity of plants and insects that live there.
Researchers were surprised by the vast diversity of languages spoken in the city.
Climate change threatens the vast diversity of life in the ocean.
phraseuncountableformal
A very wide range of different types of people, ideas or things within one group.
Grammar: Often followed by 'of' plus a plural noun; the verb is singular when the phrase is the subject.
Patterns
- vast diversity of something
- reflect vast diversity
- encourage vast diversity
The festival reflects the vast diversity of music in the region.
Her book celebrates the vast diversity of religious belief around the world.
Common combinations
- a vast diversity of
- The island has a vast diversity of bird species.
- vast diversity within
- There is vast diversity within the student population.
- reflect vast diversity
- The menu reflects the vast diversity of local cooking.
- threaten vast diversity
- Pollution threatens the vast diversity of coral life.
Synonyms and how they differ
- wide variety
- More everyday and countable-friendly ('a wide variety of'); 'vast diversity' sounds bigger and more formal.
- richness
- Focuses on how valuable or full the variety is rather than simply how much there is.
- range
- Neutral and common; it does not carry the idea of huge size that 'vast' adds.
Opposites
Word family
- diverse adjective
- Showing a lot of variety; different from one another.
- diversify verb
- To make something include more different types.
- diversification noun
- The process of adding more variety.
- diversity noun
- The state of including many different kinds of people or things.
Commonly confused: vast diversity or vast majority?
vast diversity vs vast majority
This means 'almost all', not 'a lot of variety'. 'The vast majority of students' = nearly every student.
Practice
The national park is known for its ______ of wild flowers.
Choose one answer.
'Vast diversity of' fits because the sentence is about a huge range of different flowers. 'Vast majority' would mean nearly all of one group, and 'vast expanse' describes a wide area, not variety.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “vast diversity”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.