1
: to cause a change : to be important in some way
Cost can make a difference in deciding on a college.
Your help made a big difference.
It may not matter to you, but it makes a world of difference to me.
2
: to do something that is important : to do something that helps people or makes the world a better place
She says that she got into politics because she wanted to make a difference.
Dictionary Entries Near make a difference
Cite this Entry
“Make a difference.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/make%20a%20difference. Accessed 14 Apr. 2023.
Share
More from Merriam-Webster on make a difference
Subscribe to America’s largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!
Merriam-Webster unabridged
These examples may contain rude words based on your search.
These examples may contain colloquial words based on your search.
сделать разницу
делает разницу
делают разницу
меняя мир к лучшему
изменить мир
чтобы изменить ситуацию
меняют ситуацию
меняет ситуацию
Making a difference
что-то изменить
имеют значение
It enables you to discover your own way of making a difference while forging an exciting path of professional development.
Это позволяет вам открыть свой собственный способ сделать разницу, создавая увлекательный путь профессионального развития.
That’s a fast forward for you if you are anxious to get to work making a difference.
Это быстро вперед для вас, если вы озабочены тем, чтобы добраться до работы делает разницу.
Find out more about global malnutrition and how MI is making a difference.
Узнайте больше о глобальных недоедания и как ми делает разницу.
Funny you should mention making a difference…
It felt good knowing I was making a difference.
Focus on making a difference and add value.
Discrimination means making a difference among objects possessing the same receptivity and existing under the same circumstances.
Дискриминация означает проведение различий между объектами, обладающими одной и той же восприимчивостью, могущими существовать при одних и тех же обстоятельствах.
Dedicated websites, sponsored content and online ads are making a difference in consumer choice.
Специализированные веб-сайты, спонсирующие содержание и онлайн-рекламу, имеют значение в потребительском выборе.
But they were all committed to making a difference in the lives of the elderly.
And that feeling of making a difference is ultimately what’s most important for your own happiness and fulfilment.
И это чувство, что вы меняете что-то к лучшему, — самое важное для вашего собственного счастья и удовлетворения.
Helping others, giving something back, and making a difference in the world no longer show up in popular culture.
Помогая другим, отдавая что-то назад, и делая разницу в мире, больше не появляются в популярной культуре.
Loyola is a community where we are making a difference every single day, and we invite you to join us.
Лойола это сообщество, где мы делаем различие каждый день, и мы приглашаем вас присоединиться к нам.
Starting a career coaching practice could be the key to doing what you love and making a difference.
Начав карьеру тренерской практики может стать ключом к делать то, что вы любите и что делает разницу.
Artificial intelligence is already making a difference in our homes, as customers and as service providers.
Искусственный интеллект уже имеет значение в наших домах, как клиенты и как поставщики услуг.
Where the international community is committed to making a difference, it has proved that significant and rapid transformation can be achieved.
В тех случаях, когда международное сообщество полно решимости изменить сложившееся положение, его действия доказывают, что быстрое и кардинальное преобразование возможно.
Every day they are making a difference.
Where the international community is committed to making a difference, it has proved that significant and rapid transformation can be achieved.
Как показала практика, когда международное сообщество заинтересовано в конкретных результатах, могут быть достигнуты важные и быстрые изменения.
We have succeeded in creating a number of important innovations that are already making a difference to medical professionals’ workflow.
Нам удалось создать ряд важных нововведений, которые уже оказывают существенное влияние на рабочий процесс медицинских работников.
Contribute to the development and implementation of study plans that help students reach their maximum potential, making a difference in the market.
Внести свой вклад в разработку и реализацию учебных планов, которые помогут студентам раскрыть свой максимальный потенциал, что приведет к изменениям на рынке.
However, instantly making a difference in a few lives is entirely possible and usually fairly easy.
Тем не менее, регулярно вносить некоторые изменения в несколько жизней вполне возможно и обычно это довольно легко делается.
Results: 829. Exact: 829. Elapsed time: 204 ms.
Documents
Corporate solutions
Conjugation
Synonyms
Grammar Check
Help & about
Word index: 1-300, 301-600, 601-900
Expression index: 1-400, 401-800, 801-1200
Phrase index: 1-400, 401-800, 801-1200
To make a difference in any endeavour or field means, broadly, to have a significant effect.
Until recently the expression was usually encountered as make the difference, typically the difference between a positive outcome and a flat or negative outcome. For instance, we might say that a star sales manager “made the difference” between her company breaking even and turning a very nice profit.
In the last ten or fifteen years or so, however, the expression has been most often used in exhortations to “make a difference” in your community: to give generously not just of your money but of your time and your expertise to make your community a better place for everyone. Companies proclaim that they want to “make a difference” by supporting local charities, or by providing advice to start-up businesses or by training displaced workers in new job skills. And the rising Millenial generation of young people is popularly supposed to have a more earnest desire to “make a difference” than their self- and family-centered parents and grandparents.
make a difference
1. To have some effect on something; to cause a change. Will it make a difference if I add the salt before or after I heat up the soup? I don’t think it will make a difference if we’re five minutes late.
2. To have an impact, especially in a positive way. Graduates, you can make a difference in this world. You can reshape the future! He probably doesn’t know it, but his kindness to us as kids really made a difference.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
make a difference
1. Distinguish or discriminate. This phrase appears in the Bible (Leviticus 11:47): «To make a difference between the unclean and the clean.» [Late 1500s]
2. Also, make the difference. Cause a change in effect, change the nature of something, as in His score on this test will make the difference between passing and failing, or These curtains sure make a difference in the lighting.
3. Be important, matter, as in Her volunteer work made a difference in many lives. The antonym of this usage is make no difference, as in It makes no difference to me if we go immediately or in an hour. This usage appeared long ago in slightly different versions. Miles Coverdale’s translation of the Bible of 1535 had it is no difference, and the converse, it makes great difference, was first recorded about 1470.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
make a, no, some, etc. ˈdifference (to/in somebody/something)
have an effect/no effect on somebody/something: The rain didn’t make much difference to the game. ♢ Your age shouldn’t make any difference to whether you get the job or not. ♢ Changing schools made a big difference to my life.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
- make a, no, some, etc. difference
- make no difference
- in the soup
- be in the soup
- dog(‘s) soup
- smell of
- smell of (something)
- keep (one’s)/an eye on (someone or something)
- keep an eye on, to
- keep eye on
-
#1
Hi, all
I was just listening to English-teaching broadcast on radio, and it talked about the distinction between »make the difference» and »make a diiference»:
Make the difference: just simply make a comparison, no improvement involved. i.e Our attitudes can make the difference between building a relationship and damaging it.
Make a difference: meaning that conditions are getting better, improvement involved. i.e One more person would make a difference to the arrangements.
But my dictionary seems to consider the two usages are completely the same:
make a/the diference—have an important influence or effect on something or someone.
Now I am confused. Which explanation is right?
Thanks.
-
#2
Hi, all
I was just listening to English-teaching broadcast on radio, and it talked about the distinction between »make the difference» and »make a diiference»:
Make the difference: just simply make a comparison, no improvement involved. i.e Our attitudes can make the difference between building a relationship and damaging it.
Make a difference: meaning that conditions are getting better, improvement involved. i.e One more person would make a difference to the arrangements.But my dictionary seems to consider the two usages are completely the same:
make a/the diference—have an important influence or effect on something or someone.Now I am confused. Which explanation is right?
Thanks.
I would say: «I want to make a difference», not «I want to make the difference» when I mean I want to make things better.
And I’m sorry I don’t think I use «make the difference» often myself, for example, if I’m to say the sentence you mentioned above, it’s much more likely for me to say something like: «Our attitudes matter, they change our relationships with others dramatically.» But that’s just me.
-
#3
Thanks, nichec. Maybe make the difference is not a common term.
-
#4
I think «make the difference between» is common enough.
«This contract is crucial, it could make the difference between success and failure in the coming year».
«Make a difference» is also very common. «One man can/can’t make a difference».
I think the definition given in your dictionary is much better. There are two reasons I don’t like the suggestions from the radio:
1) I don’t think including improvement in the definition is helpful because the difference might not always be a positive one.
2) I don’t think there’s a clear cut difference in meaning between the two examples given. We use «the» because we’re talking about a specific difference; «the difference between this and that» as opposed to an unspecifed difference «this could make a big difference».
-
#5
Thanks, liliput. In fact, Why I thought at first is the same as you, and I don’t know why this English-teaching broadcast explains the distinction between the two usages in particular.
-
#6
Hi, all
I was just listening to English-teaching broadcast on radio, and it talked about the distinction between »make the difference» and »make a diiference»:
Make the difference: just simply make a comparison, no improvement involved. i.e Our attitudes can make the difference between building a relationship and damaging it.
Make a difference: meaning that conditions are getting better, improvement involved. i.e One more person would make a difference to the arrangements.But my dictionary seems to consider the two usages are completely the same:
make a/the diference—have an important influence or effect on something or someone.Now I am confused. Which explanation is right?
In my opinion, neither is ‘right’. In common usage, «the difference» implies that there is only one thing to be considered as most important, above all others. For example, intense studying before an exam could make the difference between passing or failing. Getting enough sleep before an exam might make a difference, but probably not the difference—study is the most important component.
To clarify «the difference», some people add «all the difference». Robert Frost used «all the difference» at the end of one of his poems, The Road Not Taken. He took the road «less travelled» and that made «all the difference«.
Another example, people who do charitable work, certainly make a difference, but they don’t make the difference (one person cannot make the difference in a global sense—their efforts can’t make everything better).
Trinibeens
-
#7
And when you talk aout someone?
I explain, on Facebook, you can nominate your friend as «Most Likely To …» : For example, my friends think that I’m «Most Likely To Say Something Sarcastic», «Most Likely To Have a Blonde Moment» … and «Most Likely To Make a Difference«
Can you help me I don’t understand what it’s mean…
Thanks
-
#8
Trinibeens — excellent explanation, I agree completely.
… and «Most Likely To Make a Difference»
Most likely to make a difference in the world, that is, most likely to do something good that many people will notice.
-
#9
Wahoo if you’re right nzseries I’m very proud!!
It’s true that just next to this sentence, is a little icon of Superman…
It’s strange that my friends are so kind… but maybe…
-
#10
Yes, making a difference is always something good, Sosso
I’ve just noticed that you’ve added a question to quite an old thread. I think it’s preferred if you start a new thread for your own question, and provide a link to a thread such as this you’ll get more replies that way, and it doesn’t hijack the original owner’s discussion.
-
#11
I don’t understand nzerie1… (because I don’t speak english very well)
I though it was better to continue an old thread to avoid having too many threads when someone search «a difference», and all information is regroup in the same place, which is easier than read a lot of threads…
No?
-
#12
Your English is fine, sosso
I think the rule is that you must stick to the topic of the first post, but since your question is related to the first topic, it’s okay. However the forum also states «one question per thread», so I’m not sure. I’m not actually a moderator, so I will leave it up to them I personally like to see one discussion per thread, because it makes it easier to read, but that’s just my opinion