All 3 Uses of
proportionate
in
Crime and Punishment, by Dostoyevsky
- Not to speak of the fact that crime has been greatly on the increase among the lower classes during the last five years, not to speak of the cases of robbery and arson everywhere, what strikes me as the strangest thing is that in the higher classes, too, crime is increasing proportionately.†
Chpt 2.5 *proportionately = in a way that is appropriate in size, amount, or degree relative to something else
- Raskolnikov noticed this disproportionate terror.†
Chpt 4.3disproportionate = not appropriate in size, amount, or degree relative to something elsestandard prefix: The prefix "dis-" in disproportionate reverses the meaning of proportionate. This is the same pattern as seen in words like disagree, disconnect, and disappear.
- The other corner was disproportionately obtuse.†
Chpt 4.4disproportionately = in a way that is not appropriate in size, amount, or degree relative to something elsestandard prefix: The prefix "dis-" in disproportionately reverses the meaning of proportionately. This is the same pattern as seen in words like disagree, disconnect, and disappear.
Definition:
an appropriate size, amount, or degree in relation to something else