Different crossword clue

The most likely answers for the crossword clue “Different” are OTHER, POLAR or MIXED, with 5 letters. Below are 56 answers from 3 to 15 letters, best match first in each length, then what each top answer means and how to tell them apart.

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The best answers, explained

NEW 3 letters · adjective

other than the former one(s); different “they now have a new leaders”

OTHER 5 letters · adjective

very unusual; different in character or quality from the normal or expected “a strange, other dimension … where his powers seemed to fail”

UNLIKE 6 letters · adjective

marked by dissimilarity “for twins they are very unlike”

SEVERAL 7 letters · adjective

(used with count nouns) of an indefinite number more than 2 or 3 but not many “several letters came in the mail”

OPPOSITE 8 letters · adjective

altogether different in nature or quality or significance “the medicine's effect was opposite to that intended”

DIVERGENT 9 letters · adjective

tending to move apart in different directions

DISSIMILAR 10 letters · adjective

not similar “a group of very dissimilar people”

CONTRASTING 11 letters · adjective

strikingly different; tending to contrast “contrasting (or contrastive) colors”

INCOMPATIBLE 12 letters · adjective

not compatible “incompatible personalities”

HETEROGENEOUS 13 letters · adjective

consisting of elements that are not of the same kind or nature “the population of the United States is vast and heterogeneous”

DISTINGUISHABLE 15 letters · adjective

capable of being perceived as different or distinct “only the shine of their metal was distinguishable in the gloom”

Telling them apart

With 5 squares, OTHER, POLAR, MIXED and NOVEL all fit. The first letter tells them all apart: O → OTHER · P → POLAR · M → MIXED · N → NOVEL. Fill in that crossing answer first.

With 6 squares, UNLIKE, VARIED, DIVERS, MOTLEY, SUNDRY and PLIANT all fit. The first letter tells them all apart: U → UNLIKE · V → VARIED · D → DIVERS · M → MOTLEY · S → SUNDRY · P → PLIANT. Fill in that crossing answer first.

With 7 squares, SEVERAL, VARIOUS, UNUSUAL, DIVERSE, VARIANT and CHANGED all fit. The first letter settles most of it: S → SEVERAL · V → VARIOUS, VARIANT · U → UNUSUAL · D → DIVERSE · C → CHANGED. Fill in that crossing answer first.

What “different” means

• adjective: unlike in nature or quality or form or degree (“took different approaches to the problem”)
• adjective: distinctly separate from the first (“that's another (or different) issue altogether”)
• adjective: differing from all others; not ordinary (“advertising that strives continually to be different”)
• adjective: distinct or separate (“each interviewed different members of the community”)

A clue usually points at one of these senses, so the right answer is the one that matches the sense the puzzle means: check it against the crossing words.

About these answers

We match the clue against our own thesaurus and dictionary (Open English WordNet): words that mean the same as DIFFERENT, and words whose definition is DIFFERENT. We don't copy answers from newspaper puzzles, so a clue that leans on trivia or wordplay may need the crossing letters instead.