different
dif·fer·ent/ˈdɪf.ə.ɹənt/adjective, noun, adverb
different is spelled D-I-F-F-E-R-E-N-T, 3 syllables: dif·fer·ent. The wrong spelling people search most is diffrent: about 530 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026). Different is an adjective meaning “Not the same; exhibiting a difference”.
How many letters and syllables are in different?
| Letters | 9: D-I-F-F-E-R-E-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: dif·fer·ent |
| In writing | 389 times per million words; the 233rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 11; the most searched, diffrent, about 530 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell different?
Different is spelled D-I-F-F-E-R-E-N-T. 11 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is different?
Different appears 389 times per million words in written English, the 233rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce different?
- US /ˈdɪf.ə.ɹənt/
- US /ˈdɪf.ɹənt/
Different has 3 syllables, split dif·fer·ent in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-different.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of different
- more different comparative
- most different superlative
- differents plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does different mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Not the same; exhibiting a difference.
– Is your grandpa any better? – No different. Still ill.
- 2
Various, assorted, diverse.
My daughter told me about all the different animals she saw at the zoo.
- 3
Distinct, separate; used for emphasis after numbers and other determiners of quantity.
Several different scientists all reached this conclusion at about the same time.
- 4
Unlike most others; unusual.
What do you think of my new hairdo? - Well, it's different.
noun
- 1
The different ideal.
adverb
- 1
Differently.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate different?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of different: diff.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Different in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | différent |
| German | verschieden, unterschiedlich, different , anders |
| Portuguese | diferente |
| Spanish | diferente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does different come from?
From Middle English different, from Old French different, from Latin differēns, present active participle of differō (“to differ”). See also differ.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).