similarity
Americannoun
plural
similarities-
the state of being similar; likeness; resemblance.
- Synonyms:
- parallelism, correspondence, similitude
- Antonyms:
- difference
-
an aspect, trait, or feature like or resembling another or another's.
a similarity of diction.
Related Words
See resemblance.
Other Word Forms
- nonsimilarity noun
- unsimilarity noun
Etymology
Origin of similarity
Explanation
You might get annoyed if people keep saying there is a similarity between you and your older sister, particularly if you're tired of being compared to her. A similarity is a sameness or alikeness. When you are comparing two things — physical objects, ideas, or experiences — you often look at their similarities and their differences. Difference is the opposite of similarity. Both squares and rectangles have four sides, that is a similarity between them. Just because two things share similarities doesn't mean they are the same.
Vocabulary lists containing similarity
PARCC: Language of the Test (Grade7)
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Academic Vocabulary: Core Tier 2 Words, List 2
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Academic Vocabulary Toolkit 1, Words 91-100
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The perceived similarity to Netflix’s “Nobody Wants This,” a rom-com pairing a rabbi with an agnostic podcaster, is probably intentional.
From Salon • Mar. 29, 2026
One notable example is the similarity between feline mammary cancer and human breast cancer.
From Science Daily • Mar. 18, 2026
That’s where the similarity, if there is any, intersects.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026
The facts in the Gray case bear an eerie similarity to the Crumbleys’.
From Slate • Mar. 5, 2026
“That’s right. We don’t know who first realized that those meanings were there, but did the similarity, the association, exist before they realized it, or not until then? Did they invent it or discover it?”
From "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" by Philip Pullman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
