Different and similar are opposites. Different means not the same — unlike another in nature, form, or degree. Similar means alike — sharing qualities or appearance without being identical. They sit at the two ends of one axis: how closely two things correspond. One says they don't match; the other says they do, closely.
Both words measure the same thing — how alike two things are — and point in opposite directions. Different comes from the Latin differre, 'to carry apart': unlike, set apart. Similar comes from similis, 'like': alike, corresponding. The cleanest way to see the contrast is two pendulums on one beam: make the rods the same length and they swing in perfect lock-step (similar); make one rod longer and they drift out of step (different). Same beam, one variable — rod length — opposite results.
different
Different means not the same — unlike another in nature, form, or degree. It comes from the Latin differre, 'to carry apart', the same root as differ and differentiate. It is the plain, everyday opposite of similar, and it spans the whole range from the trivial (a different colour) to the profound (a wholly different worldview). Mind the preposition: standard English prefers 'different from', though 'different to' (British) and 'different than' (American, before a clause) are both common.
similar
Similar means alike — sharing qualities or appearance without being the same. It comes from the Latin similis, 'like', the root behind 'resemble', 'assimilate', and 'simile'. Two things are similar when they correspond closely enough to invite comparison, yet stay distinct, so that you might draw an analogy between them. The standard preposition is 'similar to'. It is gentler than 'identical', which claims full sameness, and it is the natural opposite of different.
| different | similar | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | not the same; unlike | alike without being identical |
| Direction | apart; fails to correspond | together; corresponds closely |
| Preposition | different from (to / than) | similar to |
| Root | Latin differre, to carry apart | Latin similis, like |
| In the scene | longer rod → pendulums drift apart | equal rods → pendulums lock in step |
| Example | a completely different result | a broadly similar result |
Picture one brass beam with two pendulums. Make the rods equal and they share a period, swinging as a single body in lock-step, warm and matched — that staying-in-rhythm is similar. Make one rod longer and it swings slower, the two drifting out of step stroke by stroke, cool and apart — that losing-the-beat is different. Same beam, one variable: rod length. If they keep the same rhythm, they are similar; if they drift apart, they are different.
different
- iTheir two accounts were so different that one had to be wrong.
- iiA completely different approach was needed.
- iiiThe climate here is quite different from back home.
similar
- iThe two languages are similar enough to follow each other.
- iiHer results were broadly similar to earlier studies.
- iiiWe took a similar approach to last year's.
They are direct opposites on the scale of likeness. Mind the prepositions: 'different from' (the safest in formal writing; 'to' and 'than' also occur) versus 'similar to'. Note the litotes 'not dissimilar', which lands on the similar side — a formal way of saying 'quite similar'. For degrees in between, reach for 'comparable' or 'broadly similar'.