discrepancy
noun
dis·crep·an·cy
di-ˈskre-pən-sē 
plural discrepancies
1
: the quality or state of disagreeing or being at variance
2
: an instance of disagreeing or being at variance
Synonyms
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.
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
The discrepancy suggests the helicopter was believed to be flying over 200 feet.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 2 Feb. 2025
Any discrepancies should lead taxpayers to review transactions and gather supporting documentation to accurately reflect their finances.
—Quartz Intelligence Newsroom, Quartz, 28 Jan. 2025
When TelevisaUnivision probed more deeply, executives gained assurances that Nielsen would remove the home from the panel so that the discrepancies could be studied.
—Brian Steinberg, Variety, 28 Jan. 2025
The industry argues that the discrepancy discourages companies from investing in the development of small-molecule drugs, which are more convenient for patients.
—Annika Kim Constantino, CNBC, 26 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for discrepancy 
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David Faris, Newsweek, 2 Feb. 2025
Any discrepancies should lead taxpayers to review transactions and gather supporting documentation to accurately reflect their finances.
—Quartz Intelligence Newsroom, Quartz, 28 Jan. 2025
When TelevisaUnivision probed more deeply, executives gained assurances that Nielsen would remove the home from the panel so that the discrepancies could be studied.
—Brian Steinberg, Variety, 28 Jan. 2025
The industry argues that the discrepancy discourages companies from investing in the development of small-molecule drugs, which are more convenient for patients.
—Annika Kim Constantino, CNBC, 26 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for discrepancy
Dictionary Entries Near discrepancy
Cite this Entry
“Discrepancy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discrepancy. Accessed 7 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
discrepancy
noun
dis·crep·an·cy
dis-ˈkrep-ən-sē
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
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