Standard Lemma guide

deviance

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈdiːvɪəns/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: D IY1 V IY0 AH0 N S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Actions or behaviors that violate formal and informal cultural norms such as laws and customs.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, sciences, social-science, sociology

Examples

  • Socrates was sentenced to death for his deviance.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A person or thing that differs from the expected.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

deviate behavior

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: deviation

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: abnormality, irregularity

4

noun

Meaning 4

a state or condition markedly different from the norm

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: aberrance, aberrancy, aberration

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: abnormality, abnormalcy

Narrower terms: chromosomal aberration, chromosomal anomaly, chrosomal abnormality, chromosonal disorder, deflection, warp

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Latin dē viā Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh2yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h2tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin dēviārebor. French dévier French -ance French déviancebor. English deviance Borrowed from French déviance.

Across languages

Translations

12 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Czech: deviace — variation from expected behavior or form
  • Dutch: afwijking — variation from expected behavior or form
  • Finnish: poikkeavuus — variation from expected behavior or form
  • French: déviance — variation from expected behavior or form
  • Hungarian: deviancia — variation from expected behavior or form
  • Indonesian: penyimpangan — variation from expected behavior or form
  • Indonesian: deviasi — variation from expected behavior or form
  • Malay: devians — variation from expected behavior or form
  • Polish: dewiacja — variation from expected behavior or form
  • Swedish: avvikelse — variation from expected behavior or form
  • Dutch: buitenbeentje — person or thing that differs from the expected
  • Polish: oryginał — person or thing that differs from the expected