You might be used to thinking of 差不多 (chàbùduō) as a single word, and that's totally OK. But if you want to negate the whole idea of rough equivalency, then you need to think of it as a phrase and use 差很多 (chà hěn duō). Not surprisingly, it's a little less versatile than 差不多 (chàbùduō).

Structure

When 差不多 (chàbùduō) is a predicate, it literally means "the difference is not much." The opposite, then, would be 差很多 (chà hěn duō), which literally means "the difference is very great." Less literally, if 差不多 (chàbùduō) means "more or less the same," then 差很多 (chà hěn duō) means "not the same at all" or "very different."

Examples

你们两个人要的价格 差很多 。Nǐmen liǎng gè rén yào de jiàgé chà hěn duō.There is a big difference in price you two charge.
公司对新老员工的要求 差很多 。Gōngsī duì xīn lǎo yuángōng de yāoqiú chà hěn duō.There are huge differences in the company requirements for new employees and the old ones.
这两件衣服看起来差不多，但是质量 差很多 。Zhè liǎng jiàn yīfu kànqǐlái chàbuduō, dànshì zhìliàng chà hěn duō.These two pieces of clothing look pretty much the same, but their quality is very different.
我的生活习惯跟我父母 差很多 。Wǒ de shēnghuó xíguàn gēn wǒ fùmǔ chà hěn duō.My life habits are very different from my parents'.
我和我男朋友的年龄 差很多 。Wǒ hé wǒ nánpéngyou de niánlíng chà hěn duō.There is a big difference between my age and my boyfriend's age.
中国文化和西方文化 差很多 。Zhōngguó wénhuà hé xīfāngwénhuà chà hěn duō.Chinese culture and western culture are quite different.
员工的收入跟老板的收入 差很多 。Yuángōng de shōurù gēn wǒlǎobǎn de shōurù chà hěn duō.There is a huge difference in income between the employees and the boss.
他们是双胞胎兄弟，但是两个人的性格 差很多 。Tāmen shì shuāngbāotāi xiōngdì, dànshì liǎng gè rén de xìnggé chà hěn duō.They are twin brothers, but there is a big difference in personality between them.
两个老师都很好，不过教学风格 差很多 。Liǎng gè lǎoshī dōu hěn hǎo, bùguò jiàoxué fēnggé chà hěn duō.They are both great teachers, but their teaching styles are very different.
这两个词的意思差不多，但是用法 差很多 。Zhè liǎng gè cí de yìsi chàbùduō, dànshì yòngfǎ chà hěn duō.The meanings of these two words are basically the same, but their usages are very different.

Structure

Examples

See also

Sources and further reading

Books

Dictionaries