adj Moving further apart from each other.
- Four zebras stood despondent facing divergent directions like an old European film or a '90s band photo.
— “Zoo”, Zoo (2020)
- The two roads are divergent here, so one goes north and the other east.
- Divergent paths in the forest led the hikers in opposite directions.
- Their divergent flight routes carried the two planes farther apart every minute.
adj Different from, or not matching, something else that was mentioned.
- The witnesses gave divergent accounts of what happened at the corner.
- Their divergent opinions about the plan made the meeting last for hours.
- Results that are divergent from earlier studies deserve a closer look.
adj Making rays of light spread apart.
- A divergent lens spreads light rays so the image looks smaller.
- The physics student drew a divergent beam leaving the concave lens.
- Glasses for nearsighted people use a divergent lens to bend incoming light outward.
