miscellaneous
Other forms: miscellaneously
Something miscellaneous is made up of an odd bunch of things — things you might not expect to go together. A breakfast bar, a DVD, and a credit card bill are miscellaneous items that may be in your backpack.
The word miscellaneous comes from the Latin word miscere, meaning “to mix.” You might have heard the expression “a mixed bag,” which applies when you don’t quite know what you’re going to get. That’s true of a bag of miscellaneous objects, too. You might pull out socks and a stick of butter — two things that don’t seem to go together. Similarly, miscellaneous can describe something with many variations, like a person who expresses herself in many different ways.
-
having many aspects“a miscellaneous crowd”
-
synonyms:
many-sided, multifaceted, multifarious
-
varied
characterized by variety
-
varied
-
consisting of a haphazard assortment of different kinds“miscellaneous accessories”
-
heterogeneous, heterogenous, hybrid
consisting of elements that are not of the same kind or nature
-
heterogeneous, heterogenous, hybrid
/ˌˈmɪsəˌleɪniəs/
/mɪsɛˈleɪniəs/
- MLA
- APA
- Chicago
Vocabulary lists containing miscellaneous
In the first book of the Hazelwood High trilogy, basketball player Andy Jackson deals with the aftermath of the car accident that killed his best friend.
How do you get kids, especially younger ones, aware of the importance of word learning? Through stories, of course. And there's no better place to start than with Debra Frasier's award-winning classic Miss Alaineus: A Vocabulary Disaster. Read more about ways to use the book for word learning here.
Eleven-year-old Kemi Carter is an aspiring scientist who loves the predictability of statistics, especially when she cannot control what's happening to her life in Michigan.