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Both mean 'various, all sorts of', but is there some subtle difference or not?

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Which もろもろ do you mean? My dictionary lists two (with the same meaning): 諸諸 and 諸々 – Jamie Taylor Mar 17 '12 at 16:58
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々 is an iteration mark, it means that the previous kanji is repeated (i.e. 諸々 is shorthand for 諸諸) – Alexander Mar 17 '12 at 17:00
I see. I'd never come across that before. </Off Topic> – Jamie Taylor Mar 17 '12 at 17:01

2 Answers

up vote 7 down vote accepted

There are some grammatical differences. 色々 can be used as a na-adjective, but 諸々 is used only as a noun. So we say 色々な but 諸々の. (We can also say 色々の, but it is less common than 色々な.) In addition, 色々 can be used also as an adverb.

Other than these grammatical differences, 諸々 sounds more formal than 色々 to me when used in contexts other than fixed phrases such as その他諸々.

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up vote 1 down vote

In addition to Tsuyoshi Ito's point, I have the intuition such that both mean there is a list of things, and もろもろ means that the things in the list vary widely whereas いろいろ does not have such connotation.

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I think that いろいろ has the same connotation (or even meaning). For example, 色々な本 means “various books,” not just “many books.” – Tsuyoshi Ito Mar 17 '12 at 22:39

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