diversified

American  

[dih-vur-suh-fahyd, dahy-] / dɪˈvɜr səˌfaɪd, daɪ- /

adjective

1. distinguished by various forms or by a variety of objects.

   diversified activity.

2. distributed among a judicious variety of types; balanced.

   Investments focused in a single industry, such as energy, are more vulnerable to market volatility than more diversified investments.

3. producing different kinds of goods, crops, etc., or expanded so as to do so.

   He owns a diversified farm, raising livestock, produce, and medicinal herbs.

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Other Word Forms

• nondiversified adjective
• quasi-diversified adjective
• undiversified adjective
• well-diversified adjective

Etymology

Origin of diversified

First recorded in 1605–15; diversify + -ed ²

Explanation

When something is diversified, it is diverse, meaning varied. If your investments are diversified, it means you have put money in more than one place: real estate, stocks, bonds, race horses, gold, alligator farms, and so on. Diverse comes from a medieval Latin word diversificare, meaning “make dissimilar.” If you have diversified something, you have made its parts different from each other. For example, if you want to make your diet more diversified, you make it a point to eat a wider variety of foods, or at least something beyond just scrambled eggs and macaroni and cheese.

Example Sentences

Now is the time for him to move beyond holding large amounts of cash and begin investing in a diversified low-cost index fund or exchange-traded fund.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 16, 2026

Real estate is also illiquid, requires upkeep, so you need a balanced, diversified retirement plan.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 16, 2026

It can create a diversified portfolio of higher-quality names with a smaller cap and value bias compared with market-cap-weighted indexes, says Que Nguyen, chief investment officer of equity strategies at Research Affiliates.

From Barron's • Apr. 15, 2026

It moved into commercial fishing during the 1980s oil slump and diversified into natural gas and fish-protein, then sold off its energy assets and bought a sausage-casing company.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026

Moody’s and S&P were piling up these triple-B bonds, assuming they were diversified, and bestowing ratings on them—without ever knowing what was behind the bonds!

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Related Words

• diverse
• varied