disproportionate1
/ˌdɪsprəˈpɔːʃ(ə)nət
/adjective
Too large or too small in comparison with something else: people on lower incomes spend a disproportionate amount of their income on fuel persistent offenders were given sentences that were disproportionate to the offences they had committed...
- Of course in reality I know some very nice people with beards (as well as a disproportionate amount of idiots).
- California bears a disproportionate amount of the cost of illegal immigration.
- The Sheikh's willingness to spend disproportionate amounts of money for certain objects has astonished the art world.
Synonyms
out of proportion to, not in proportion to, not appropriate to, not commensurate with, relatively too large for, relatively too small for;
inordinate, unreasonable, excessive, uncalled for, undue, unfair, unbalanced, uneven, unequal, irregular
Derivatives
disproportionateness
- The inconsistency and disproportionateness which has been occasioned in our sentiments of benevolence, offers a curious moral phenomenon.
- Hence, the disproportionateness of his reactions.
- Another negative fact is the manifest disproportionateness of the distribution of Hungarian students among the various fields of study.
Origin
Mid 16th century: from dis- (expressing absence) + proportionate, on the pattern of French disproportionné.
disproportionate2
/ˌdɪsprəˈpɔːʃ(ə)neɪt/verb [no object] Chemistry
Undergo disproportionation: water disproportionates to oxygen and hydrogen...
- When bubbled through alkaline water, chlorine gas disproportionates to form chloride ion and hypochlorite ion.
- The rapidly induced production of ROS under stress conditions initially results in the production of O.2 -, which then disproportionates to H 2 O 2 either spontaneously or via superoxide dismutase.
- The latter disproportionates to H 2 O 2 and O2.