Better vs Different - What's the difference?
better | different |
(good)
* {{quote-video, date = 2002-11-01
, title =
, episode =
, number = 4
, passage = Badger:'' You think you're better''' than other people.
''Mal:'' Just the ones I'm ' better than. }} (well)
larger, greater
* 1901 , ,
More, in reference to value, distance, time, etc.
To improve.
* Wordsworth
* Thackeray
* Macaulay
To become better; to improve.
To surpass in excellence; to exceed; to excel.
* Hooker
To give advantage to; to support; to advance the interest of.
* Milton
(slang) Had better.
An entity, usually animate, deemed superior to another; one who has a claim to precedence; a superior.
* Hooker
Not the same; exhibiting a difference.
*
* 1971 , William S. Burroughs, , page 6
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=
, volume=189, issue=6, page=34, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= Various, assorted, diverse.
* 2006 , Delbert S. Elliott et al., Good Kids from Bad Neighborhoods: Successful Development in Social Context , Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9780521863575, page 19:
Distinct, separate; (used for emphasis after numbers and other determiners of quantity).
* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author=
, title= Unlike most others; unusual.
As verbs the difference between better and different
is that better is to improve while different is .As an adjective better
is (good).As an adverb better
is .As a noun better
is an entity, usually animate, deemed superior to another; one who has a claim to precedence; a superior or better can be .better
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) better, bettre, betre, from (etyl) .Adjective
(head)''Mal:'' Just the ones I'm ' better than. }}
Derived terms
* better dead than red * better half * better off * betterness * better part of * get betterAdverb
(head)- “I’ve had enough of cycling with you chaps. I can spend my Sundays better than in tormenting cats and quarrelling and fighting.”
- ten miles and better
Derived terms
* had better * 'd betterVerb
(en verb)- Love betters what is best.
- He thought to better his circumstances.
- the constant effort of every man to better himself
- (Carlyle)
- The works of nature do always aim at that which can not be bettered .
- Weapons more violent, when next we meet, / May serve to better us and worse our foes.
- You better do that if you know what's good for you.
Derived terms
* betterer * bettermentSynonyms
* See alsoNoun
(en noun)- He quickly found Ali his better in the ring.
- Their betters would hardly be found.
Derived terms
* get the better ofEtymology 2
Alternate pronunciation of (bettor) or modern formation from the verb to (bet).Statistics
* 1000 English basic words ----different
English
(wikipedia different)Adjective
(en adjective)- Enter the American tourist. He thinks of himself as a good guy but when he looks in the mirror to shave this good guy he has to admit that "well, other people are different from me and I don't really like them." This makes him feel guilty toward other people.
Ian Sample
Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains, passage=Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits. ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.}}
- In any case, poor black respondents living in high-poverty neighborhoods are most likely to view their neighborhood as a single block or block group and to use this definition consistently when asked about different neighborhood characteristics and activities.
Charles T. Ambrose
Alzheimer’s Disease, volume=101, issue=3, page=200, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems—surgical foam, a thermal gel depot, a microcapsule or biodegradable polymer beads.}}
Usage notes
* (not the same) Depending on dialect, time period, and register, the adjective may be construed with one of the prepositions (from), (to), and (than), or with the subordinating conjunction (than).- Pleasure is different from'''/'''than'''/'''to''' happiness.''
- ''It's different '''than''' ''(or '''''from what'' )'' I expected.