disproportion

American  

[dis-pruh-pawr-shuhn, -pohr-] / ˌdɪs prəˈpɔr ʃən, -ˈpoʊr- /

noun

1. lack of proportion; lack of proper relationship in size, number, etc..

   architectural disproportions.

2. something out of proportion.

   the disproportions of an awkward body.

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verb (used with object)

1. to make disproportionate.

disproportion British  

/ ˌdɪsprəˈpɔːʃən /

noun

1. lack of proportion or equality

2. an instance of disparity or inequality

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verb

1. (tr) to cause to become exaggerated or unequal

Other Word Forms

• disproportionable adjective
• disproportionableness noun
• disproportionably adverb
• disproportional adjective

Etymology

Origin of disproportion

1545–55; dis- ¹ + proportion; compare Middle French disproportion

Example Sentences

“It is not a great disproportion between ourselves and others which produces envy, but on the contrary, a proximity,” wrote David Hume, the 18th-century philosopher and economist.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 5, 2025

The Congressional Budget Office and National Academy of Sciences, to name two sources that painstakingly documented the disproportion.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 2, 2023

But the disproportion that Sordi brings to the part is essential to Risi’s argument, which is precisely that Silvio doesn’t fit the scale of his times.

From New York Times • Feb. 2, 2023

That disproportion slights the postwar failure of his push to make a Christian Sparta among citizens more devoted to making money and buying consumer goods.

From Washington Post • Nov. 11, 2022

His loyalty extended without disproportion to things, the patient, obstinate, reliable things that we use and get used to, the things we live by.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin