First Known Use: 15th century
Dictionary
discrepant
adjective dis·crep·ant \dis-ˈkre-pənt\
Definition of DISCREPANT
: being at variance : disagreeing <widely discrepant conclusions>
— dis·crep·ant·ly adverb
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Examples of DISCREPANT
- There had always been a question about what to do with observations (known as “outliers”) that are wildly discrepant from the mean. Obviously the observer has made a huge mistake somewhere—for example, reversing the digits when transcribing a number—but the fundamental premise of the law of errors is that mistakes should never be thrown out. How are astronomers supposed to distinguish between inaccuracies and sheer blunders? —Louis Menand, The Metaphysical Club, 2001
- Relatively few laboratories could get experimental suppression systems to work, and many experiments proved difficult to reproduce reliably. As discrepant results accumulated, the proposed regulatory networks became “more and more baroque,” Germain says. As time passed, investigators began questioning whether suppressor cells existed at all. —Scientific American, December 1990
- The truth perhaps lies somewhere between these two very discrepant views. —Mark Griffith, Notes and Queries, March 1990
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Origin of DISCREPANT
Middle English discrepaunt, from Latin discrepant-, discrepans, present participle of discrepare to sound discordantly, from dis- + crepare to rattle, creak — more at raven
Related to DISCREPANT
- Synonyms
- clashing, conflicting, disagreeing, discordant, inconsistent, incompatible, incongruous, inconsonant, inharmonious, mutually exclusive, repugnant
- Antonyms
- accordant, agreeing, compatible, concordant, conformable (to), congruent, congruous, consistent, consonant, correspondent (with or to), harmonious, nonconflicting
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