as in abnormal
departing from some accepted standard of what is normal
some studies show that many violent criminals begin exhibiting deviant behavior in early childhood
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in maverick
a person who does not conform to generally accepted standards or customs
branded as social deviants by a society that did not value self-expression
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of deviant
Christopher R. Browning, The New York Review of Books, 1 Dec. 2022
The Florida bill’s opponents are worried about a world in which teachers have no meaningful way to discuss the real world inhabited by their students, which risks leaving students with the impression that non-straight or non-gender-conforming individuals are somehow deviant.
—Washington Post, 12 Apr. 2022
Armond White, National Review, 3 Jan. 2025
Moreover, a climate of distrust can trigger extreme actions by deviant members of the population, such as the 1995 bombing of a federal office building in Oklahoma City.
—Joseph S. Nye Jr., Foreign Affairs, 1 Nov. 2010
See All Example Sentences for deviant
Adjective
Jähner does not comment on no one seeming to have drawn the lesson that the anti-Semitic stereotype of dishonest and deviant economic behavior that Germans had long identified as a Jewish racial characteristic had turned out to be situationally, not racially, caused.
—Christopher R. Browning, The New York Review of Books, 1 Dec. 2022
The Florida bill’s opponents are worried about a world in which teachers have no meaningful way to discuss the real world inhabited by their students, which risks leaving students with the impression that non-straight or non-gender-conforming individuals are somehow deviant.
—Washington Post, 12 Apr. 2022
Noun
His background as an actor in such deviant films as Mysterious Skin, Funny Games, and Melancholia surfaces in how The Brutalist evokes an apocalyptic worldview.
—Armond White, National Review, 3 Jan. 2025
Moreover, a climate of distrust can trigger extreme actions by deviant members of the population, such as the 1995 bombing of a federal office building in Oklahoma City.
—Joseph S. Nye Jr., Foreign Affairs, 1 Nov. 2010
See All Example Sentences for deviant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deviant
Adjective
-
Cancerous lumps vary greatly in appearance but usually tend to have a few similar characteristics, including an abnormal shape; rapid growth; ulcerated areas; abnormal color; hair loss; and attachment to an underlying tissue.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
Newsweek,
4 Mar. 2025
-
These abnormal cells however can progress to invasive breast cancer.—
Lauryn Higgins,
Flow Space,
4 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Kai Havertz’s finishing, for example, or Kylian Mbappe’s work rate, or the gradual erosion of Jack Grealish’s maverick edge.—
Rory Smith,
The Athletic,
19 Jan. 2025
-
Overall, there were palpable achievements, not a few of which involved reminding Americans of the importance of core structural values as the maverick extremes of political discourse exploded in their influence.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
19 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Of the six substitutions Slot made in the defeat to PSG, Quansah was the brightest addition to the side, despite coming on at right-back, an unnatural position for him.—
Andy Jones,
The Athletic,
13 Mar. 2025
-
While there are certainly products that can be used across different hair textures, lengths, curl patterns, thicknesses, colors (natural and unnatural), and needs, hair products are often created with specific consumers in mind.—
Jennifer Hussein,
Allure,
11 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Would love to know what these career eccentrics make of the pomp and pageantry of the Grammys.—
August Brown,
Los Angeles Times,
3 Feb. 2025
-
Foreman was one of the last living crossover theatrical eccentrics, an outsider artist whose philosophically rigorous work for downtown micro-audiences alternated with engagements at Lincoln Center and the Festival d’Automne, in Paris.—
Helen Shaw,
The New Yorker,
9 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Deviant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deviant. Accessed 15 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share