discrepancy

noun

dis·​crep·​an·​cy di-ˈskre-pən-sē How to pronounce discrepancy (audio)
plural discrepancies
1
: the quality or state of disagreeing or being at variance
2
: an instance of disagreeing or being at variance

Examples of discrepancy in a Sentence

Dr. Derman, who spent 17 years at Goldman Sachs and became managing director, was a forerunner of the many physicists and other scientists who have flooded Wall Street in recent years, moving from a world in which a discrepancy of a few percentage points in a measurement can mean a Nobel Prize or unending mockery to a world in which a few percent one way can land you in jail and a few percent the other way can win you your own private Caribbean island. Dennis Overbye, New York Times, 9 Mar. 2009
Why the difference? Why are some individuals so outwardly altered by time and others not? Or, in other words, why is there often a discrepancy between chronological age and biological age? Time, 17 Oct. 2005
If an article is on one machine but not the other, a copy is made to eliminate the discrepancy. Simson Garfinkel, Technology Review, November 2001
The discrepancy can't be written off simply as lack of data, because it shows up in one of the best-studied periods in Earth's history … Tim Appenzeller, Science, 12 Feb. 1993
Discrepancies in the firm's financial statements led to an investigation. There were discrepancies between their accounts of the accident.
Recent Examples on the Web This legislation would require all hospitals to publicly disclose the underlying price of procedures, services, and medications, as well as tackle the site-specific payment discrepancies that cost my patients. Rob Davidson, Fortune, 7 Mar. 2024 Last year in an effort to close the pay gap, the guild shared the pay scales to highlight the discrepancies. Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 6 Mar. 2024 Please note, there might be slight discrepancies due to the AI used to transcribe the conversation. Kaely Monahan, The Arizona Republic, 6 Mar. 2024 That discrepancy has intrigued cosmologists, potentially pointing to cracks in the standard cosmological model. Liz Kruesi, Quanta Magazine, 4 Mar. 2024 The potential discrepancy between high levels of satisfaction with Medicare coverage generally and specific challenges people face may come down to expectations, according to Gretchen Jacobson, vice president of Medicare at the Commonwealth Fund and the study’s lead author. Deb Gordon, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024 Once the 3-point discrepancy narrowed, the Jayhawks were able to take control of the game. Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 17 Feb. 2024 The renowned cancer treatment and research center is in the midst of a lengthy review of possible discrepancies involving around 60 papers co-authored by four of its top researchers over a period of over 15 years, including CEO Laurie Glimcher and COO William Hahn. Angus Chen and Jonathan Wosen, STAT, 12 Feb. 2024 The executive director, John Arnold, has not responded to The Republic’s questions from last week about the discrepancy. Hannah Dreyfus, The Arizona Republic, 27 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'discrepancy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

earlier discrepance in same sense (borrowed from Latin discrepantia, derivative of discrepant-, discrepans, present participle of discrepāre "to differ in sound, be out of tune, be inconsistent") + -ancy — more at discrepant

First Known Use

1579, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of discrepancy was in 1579

Dictionary Entries Near discrepancy

Cite this Entry

“Discrepancy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discrepancy. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

discrepancy

noun
dis·​crep·​an·​cy dis-ˈkrep-ən-sē How to pronounce discrepancy (audio)
plural discrepancies
1
: the quality or state of being different : disagreement
a great discrepancy between the two reports
2
: something that is different or that disagrees
discrepancies in the firm's financial statements

More from Merriam-Webster on discrepancy

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