disproportion
2
5.8
- noun
- /ˌdɪsprəˈpɔrʃən/
:
desproporción
- Stalin's industrialization brought this tension to the extreme by creating huge disproportions in terms of the distribution of material and human resources.
- a great disproportion
Examples
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Indeed, this disproportion was and still is very much the case in the post-independent Indian and Nigerian armies.
Academic text (1992) -
There was a noticeable disproportion in the funding received by different departments in the university.
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Indeed, there is a clear disproportion in the length of the spine and chest size.
Blog text (26) -
Not all spaces are equal, and their disproportion can have psychological, social, and gender significance.
Academic text (1996) -
You remark the disproportion between our dead and wounded.
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Nevertheless, the disproportion between Russia and the smaller Transcaspian states means that no natural equilibrium is possible there.
Academic text (2000) -
In addition, the referral policy and traditional views of professionals, clients, and their family members contribute to making this disproportion even sharper.
Academic text (2007) -
Many subcastes had few members and a disproportion of men to women, so they could not reproduce themselves as endogamous units.
Academic text (1994) -
And in post-Communist Russia, the current disproportion between deaths and births is stark, indeed astonishing.
Academic text (2005) -
Brynjolfsson and McAfee explain the disproportion by considering three sets of winners and losers in today's technology-driven economy.
Academic text (2012)
Synonyms
86
4.2
When different parts are not equal in amount or power
75
6.7
A large unfair difference in people's chances or treatment
1
8.1
A situation when one thing is much larger or smaller than another and seems unfair
A situation where things are not steady or equal
A situation where two or more parts are not the same
An uneven spread of something inside a system that makes it work poorly
An unfair way of giving things or help to groups of people
An unfair division of seats between areas or groups that gives some more representatives
Antonyms
How Balanced
Surface Forms
Morphology
disproportion = proportion (transparent) = dis + proportion
The meaning 'lack of proper proportion' is a straightforward and productive extension of the noun 'proportion' with the negative prefix 'dis-'.
Etymology
Disproportion comes from the parts dis- meaning 'not' and proportion meaning 'a proper part or share', and it is related to the common word portion. So it literally suggests a 'not proper share', which is why it means an imbalance or a wrong relationship in size or amount.