deviation
noun
de·vi·a·tion
ˌdē-vē-ˈā-shən 
: an act or instance of deviating: such as
a
navigation
: deflection of the needle of a compass caused by local magnetic influences (as in a ship)
b
mathematics
: the difference between a value in a frequency distribution and a fixed number (such as the mean)
c
: departure from an established ideology or party line
deviation from Communist orthodoxy
d
: noticeable or marked departure from accepted norms (see norm sense 2) of behavior
Synonyms
Examples of deviation in a Sentence
There have been slight deviations in the satellite's orbit.
Having juice instead of coffee was a deviation from his usual routine.
The pattern's deviation from the norm is significant.
Recent Examples on the Web
There may be slight deviations from the podcast audio.
—
Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 4 Nov. 2024
Transcriptions of episodes of the Outside Podcast are created with a mix of speech recognition software and human transcribers, and may contain some grammatical errors or slight deviations from the audio.
—Outside Online, 30 Oct. 2024
Overall mean absolute deviation, or MAD, revenue was up 18% on an annual basis.
—Kif Leswing, CNBC, 29 Oct. 2024
As such, any deviations from your baseline patterns could suggest that your body is dealing with stress—and, as Mishra explained, fighting off an infection could be a reason why.
—Alyssa Hui, Health, 21 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for deviation 
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Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 4 Nov. 2024
Transcriptions of episodes of the Outside Podcast are created with a mix of speech recognition software and human transcribers, and may contain some grammatical errors or slight deviations from the audio.
—Outside Online, 30 Oct. 2024
Overall mean absolute deviation, or MAD, revenue was up 18% on an annual basis.
—Kif Leswing, CNBC, 29 Oct. 2024
As such, any deviations from your baseline patterns could suggest that your body is dealing with stress—and, as Mishra explained, fighting off an infection could be a reason why.
—Alyssa Hui, Health, 21 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for deviation
Dictionary Entries Near deviation
Cite this Entry
“Deviation.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deviation. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
deviation
noun
de·vi·a·tion
ˌdē-vē-ˈā-shən
: an act or instance of deviating: as
a
: the difference found by subtracting some fixed number (as the arithmetic mean of a series of statistical data) from any item of the series
b
: noticeable difference from accepted standards (as of behavior or morals)
Medical Definition
deviation
noun
de·vi·a·tion
ˌdē-vē-ˈā-shən
: an act or instance of diverging from an established way or in a new direction: as
a
: evolutionary differentiation involving interpolation of new stages in the ancestral pattern of morphogenesis
b
: noticeable or marked departure from accepted norms of behavior
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