var·i·ant
ˈver-ē-ənt 
plural variants
: one of two or more persons or things of the same kind that differ in some way from one another: such as
a
: someone or something that exhibits variation from a type or norm
Scientists now find that a variant of a specific gene may contribute to the disorder …—
B. Bower
B. BowerAmbient music, as it is sometimes called, was originally a variant of techno music without the beats.—Neil Strauss
Neil StraussWe played all kinds of weird and wacky poker variants, many involving wild cards …—Anthony Holden
Anthony Holden
b
: one of two or more different spellings (such as labor and labour) or pronunciations (as of economics \ek-, ēk-\) of the same word
c
: one of two or more words (such as geographic and geographical) or word elements (such as mon- and mono-) of essentially the same meaning differing only in the presence or absence of an affix
Examples of variant in a Sentence
Adjective
variant strains of a disease
Noun
A new variant of the disease has appeared.
Recent Examples on the Web
Melissa Rudy, FOXNews.com, 14 July 2025
The Galaxy Watch 8 Classic only comes in one 46mm size and costs $499.99 for the Bluetooth-only variant or $549.99 for a version equipped with LTE.
—PC Magazine, 11 July 2025
Reasoning at Scale and The Compute Crunch Grok 4’s focus on enhancing reasoning, including domain-specific variants, mirrors a broader industry shift toward post-training.
—Gerui Wang, Forbes.com, 10 July 2025
Each model variant includes a hidden space that can house a Bluetooth tracker such as the Bosch Connect Module, AirTag or Tile Mate for tracking potential.
—New Atlas, 8 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for variant
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Noun
Previously healthy men over age 70 who have two copies of the variant, which is known as H63D, are at least twice — or up to four times — as likely to develop dementia.
—Melissa Rudy, FOXNews.com, 14 July 2025
The Galaxy Watch 8 Classic only comes in one 46mm size and costs $499.99 for the Bluetooth-only variant or $549.99 for a version equipped with LTE.
—PC Magazine, 11 July 2025
Reasoning at Scale and The Compute Crunch Grok 4’s focus on enhancing reasoning, including domain-specific variants, mirrors a broader industry shift toward post-training.
—Gerui Wang, Forbes.com, 10 July 2025
Each model variant includes a hidden space that can house a Bluetooth tracker such as the Bosch Connect Module, AirTag or Tile Mate for tracking potential.
—New Atlas, 8 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for variant
Cite this Entry
“Variant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/variant. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
variant
1 of 2 adjective
var·i·ant
ˈver-ē-ənt, ˈvar-
: manifesting variety or deviation : varying usually slightly from a usual or standard form
variant forms of the disease
mutations resulting in a variant strain of the bacteria
variant
2 of 2 noun
: one that exhibits variation from a type, norm, or wild type : mutation
a less contagious variant of the virus
To date, nearly 60 genes have been evaluated to determine whether specific genetic variants may be associated with IBS [=irritable bowel syndrome].—Yuri A. Saito, Gastroenterology Clinics of North America
Yuri A. Saito, Gastroenterology Clinics of North AmericaLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
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