variant
tending to change or alter; exhibiting variety or diversity; varying: variant shades of color.
not agreeing or conforming; differing, especially from something of the same general kind.
not definitive, as a version of part of a text; different; alternative: a variant reading.
not universally accepted.
a person or thing that varies.
a different spelling, pronunciation, or form of the same word: “Vehemency” is a variant of “vehemence.”
Microbiology, Pathology. a form of a virus, bacterium, or other microorganism that arises from a strain of the microorganism when a mutation changes a small part of the strain’s genetic code.: Compare strain2 (def. 5).
Origin of variant
1Other words from variant
- non·var·i·ant, adjective, noun
- un·var·i·ant, adjective
Words that may be confused with variant
- variable, variant
Words Nearby variant
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use variant in a sentence
Tadge Juechter will remain executive chief engineer for Global Corvette and will continue to lead the team as new variants hit the market.
GM shifts Corvette engineering team to its electric and autonomous vehicle programs | Kirsten Korosec | August 28, 2020 | TechCrunchA smattering of all water molecules on Earth contain a heavy variant of hydrogen known as deuterium.
Earth’s building blocks may have had far more water than previously thought | Christopher Crockett | August 27, 2020 | Science NewsAbout a quarter of elite controllers have genetic variants in key immune system genes that may help them get a handle on the virus, says Joseph Wong, a virologist at the University of California, San Francisco.
In a first, a person’s immune system fought HIV — and won | Tina Hesman Saey | August 26, 2020 | Science NewsNot all close variants are poor matches, but many do see meaningfully different performance than true exact and phrase matches on the non-brand side.
2020 Google paid search trends that have nothing to do with the pandemic | Andy Taylor | August 25, 2020 | Search Engine LandFor example, a promising pro-youth gene variant can be genetically edited into mice using CRISPR or some other tool.
The Secret to a Long, Healthy Life Is in the Genes of the Oldest Humans Alive | Shelly Fan | August 10, 2020 | Singularity Hub
There we were to watch a game of buzkashi, a much more violent variant of polo played by Uzbeks and other Afghans.
The Warlord Who Defines Afghanistan: An Excerpt From Bruce Riedel’s ’What We Won’ | Bruce Riedel | July 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAll of these will end with some variant of the following: Ms. Pembreteaux laughed, then shrugged.
Many of the gender-variant male types were stigmatized; being regarded as women was hardly an elevation in social status.
Instead, Chris indulged in the MSNBC variant of epistemic closure.
Now she is back with a new variant today, but this one actually makes more sense.
On the other hand, no continental variant appears to contain the sea-maiden episodes.
The Three Days' Tournament | Jessie L. WestonI do not think that Lancelot was ab origine the hero of a variant of this popular and widely-spread folk-tale.
The Three Days' Tournament | Jessie L. WestonMinor printer's errors have been corrected, but variant and irregular spellings are retained.
The Art of Drinking | Georg Gottfried GervinusHe indicated one of the variant-tapes being slowly reversed across the relays.
We're Friends, Now | Henry HasseWhere several variant spellings were used, the most prevalent version was use to standardize them.
Buffon's Natural History. Volume VII (of 10) | Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon
British Dictionary definitions for variant
/ (ˈvɛərɪənt) /
liable to or displaying variation
differing from a standard or type: a variant spelling
obsolete not constant; fickle
something that differs from a standard or type
statistics another word for variate (def. 1)
Origin of variant
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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