Definition of "disparate" []

• Fundamentally distinct or different in kind; entirely dissimilar: "This mixture of apparently disparate materials—scandal and spiritualism, current events and eternal recurrences—is not promising on the face of it” ( Gary Wills). (adjective)
• Containing or composed of dissimilar or opposing elements: a disparate group of people who represented a cross section of the city. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "And that includes these firefighters who paid the price and took the test and did real well and should have had the job but were stopped from getting the job because the mayor and others were afraid they would be sued for what you call disparate impact."
• "And, in effect, what-not "in effect," really, what this Indiana law has is what we call disparate impact."
• "And, in effect, what-not “in effect, †really, what this Indiana law has is what we call disparate impact."