def difference_by(a, b, fn): _b = set(map(fn, b)) return [item for item in a if fn(item) not in _b] from math import floor difference_by([2.1, 1.2], [2.3, 3.4], floor) # [1.2] difference_by([{ 'x': 2 }, { 'x': 1 }], [{ 'x': 1 }], lambda v : v['x']) # [ { x: 2 } ]