adjective · academic
discrete
/dɪˈskriːt/di·SKREET
separate and distinct; not continuous or connected
Examples
“The study analysed five discrete categories of behaviour.”
“Discrete variables are treated differently from continuous ones.”
“We collected data in several discrete time intervals.”
Band 8 sentence
“The experiment measured discrete events rather than a continuous signal to simplify analysis.”
Collocations
- discrete categories/variables/units
- treat as discrete
Word family
Common mistakes
confuse 'discrete' with 'discreet' and write 'discreet variables'.→discrete variables
translate as 'diskret' style spelling or use 'separate' every time→use 'discrete' when technical meaning of separate/distinct is needed
Say it for a higher band
5separate→6distinct→7+discrete
Synonyms
separate
distinct
Easily confused
discreet
“She was discreet about her personal life.”
distinct
“There are distinct differences between the two methods.”
Related words
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In Sublist 10
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