Multifaceted

adjective

/ˌmʌltiˈfæsɪtɪd/

Having many aspects, sides, or dimensions. Used of a problem, role, personality, or phenomenon that is complex and cannot be reduced to a single dimension.

✍️ Usage in a UPSC answer

Poverty in India is a multifaceted challenge, for it is simultaneously rooted in landlessness, inadequate human capital, social exclusion and regional disparity, and therefore no single welfare scheme, however generous, can dismantle it in isolation.

Synonyms

many-sidedmultidimensionalcomplexvariedmanifoldversatile

Antonyms

one-dimensionalsimpleuniformmonolithic

🌱 Word Family

facet (n.), faceted (adj.), multifaceted (adj.), faceting (v. pres.p), facets (n. pl.)

🔡 Root

Latin multus = much, many (multi-); French facette (dim. of face) < Latin facies = form, appearance

📜 Etymology

From multi- (combining form of Latin multus 'much, many') + faceted, from facet, from French facette, diminutive of Old French face 'face, appearance', from Latin facies 'form, appearance' (related to facere 'to make'). Originally literal (gemstones cut with many polished surfaces); figurative sense 'having many aspects' from the 1870s.

🧠 Memory Hook

Multi- (many) + facet (a flat face of a cut diamond): picture a diamond with many shining faces, each one a different aspect catching the light.

🏛️ Governance 📖 Seen in: Good Governance — Metrics, Indices & G...

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