Word.ws English Dictionary

distinctions without a difference

distinctions without a difference is the plural of distinction without a difference.

Meaning of distinction without a difference

Noun

distinction without a difference (plural distinctions without a difference or distinctions without differences)

  1. (set phrase) A linguistic or conceptual distinction which is of no practical importance or which has no effect on meaning; a perceived difference where there is no actual difference.
    • "'The Active Inquirer' is the present name, though when we supported Mr. Adams it was called 'The Active Enquirer,' with an E."
      "A distinction without a difference; I like that," interrupted Captain Truck.1831, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 14, in Homeward Bound

Questions about distinctions without a difference

What is distinctions without a difference the plural of?
Distinctions without a difference is the plural of distinction without a difference.

Words near distinctions without a difference in the dictionary

  1. distinction without a difference
  2. distinctional
  3. distinctioning
  4. distinctionless
  5. distinctions
  6. distinctions without a difference
  7. distinctions without differences
  8. distinctive
  9. distinctive paper
  10. distinctive papers
  11. distinctively

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: distinctions without a difference (page history and authors); distinction without a difference (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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