disproportionately
To an extent that is too large or too small in comparison to something else; unfairly uneven.
writing-task-2readingspeakingGovernment and societyHealthWork and economy
IELTS use
Highlighting inequality or imbalance in Task 2 and Speaking; describing statistical bias in Reading.
Examples
- Low-income households are disproportionately affected by rising energy costs.
- Women are disproportionately represented in part-time and low-paid jobs.
Collocations
- disproportionately affected
- Coastal communities are disproportionately affected by rising sea levels.
Word family
- Noun
- disproportion
- Adjective
- disproportionate
- Adverb
- disproportionately
Paraphrases
- overly/underly represented: Useful for demographic data.
- unequally: Simpler synonym, but less precise.
Common mistakes
- unproportionally to disproportionately. 'Unproportionally' is not a standard English word.
- disproportionately high than to disproportionately higher than. Use the comparative form of the adjective after 'disproportionately'.