aberration

American  

[ab-uh-rey-shuhn] / ˌæb əˈreɪ ʃən /

noun

• aberrations
  plural

1. the act of departing from the right, normal, or usual course.

   Leaving that spelling error in her final report was an aberration from her usual meticulous work, and it surprised her colleagues.

   Synonyms:

   divergence, deviation, wandering

2. an instance of deviating from the ordinary, usual, or normal type.

   Certain disorders may be caused by a chromosomal aberration, such as the absence or duplication of a particular chromosome.

   Last season was an aberration in the league, with a sharp increase in the number of injuries to players.

3. deviation from truth or from good ethics.

   Disgust may begin as physical revulsion that is eventually triggered by anything a person sees as moral aberration.

4. a departure from sound thinking; lapse in judgment.

   Through some strange aberration or oversight, the author rejected my own much more subtle and effective amendments.

   Synonyms:

   hallucination, delusion, illusion, eccentricity, abnormality

5. Astronomy. apparent displacement of a heavenly body, owing to the motion of the earth in its orbit.

6. Optics. any disturbance of the rays of a pencil of light such that they can no longer be brought to a sharp focus or form a clear image.

7. Photography. a defect in a camera lens or lens system, due to flaws in design, material, or construction, that can distort the image.

---

aberration British  

/ ˌæbəˈreɪʃən /

noun

1. deviation from what is normal, expected, or usual

2. departure from truth, morality, etc

3. a lapse in control of one's mental faculties

4. optics a defect in a lens or mirror that causes the formation of either a distorted image or one with coloured fringes See also spherical aberration chromatic aberration

5. astronomy the apparent displacement of a celestial body due to the finite speed of light and the motion of the observer with the earth

---

aberration Scientific  

/ ăb′ə-rā′shən /

1. A deviation in the normal structure or number of chromosomes in an organism.

2. A defect in a lens or mirror that prevents light rays from being focused at a single point and results in a distorted or blurred image.

3. ◆ Aberration that results in distortion of color is called chromatic aberration.

4. ◆ Aberration that is caused by imperfections in the surface or shape of a spherical mirror or lens is called spherical aberration.

5. See also astigmatism coma

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• aberrational
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• aberrations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of aberration

First recorded in 1585–95; from Latin aberrātiōn-, stem of aberrātiō “distraction, diversion, relief (from pain or sorrow),” from aberrāt(us) “diverted, deviated” (past participle of aberrāre “to divert, forget for a time,” also “to wander, deviate”; see aberrant) + -iō -ion

Explanation

An aberration is something strange that rarely occurs. An example of an aberration is when the temperature in Minnesota hits 90 degrees in January — it's nice and warm, but it's really strange. The noun aberration often refers to something that doesn't fit with current moral standards, or is something that shows a mental lack of control. Aberration comes from the Latin word that means "to wander, go astray." Today, you'd say it was an aberration to send little children to work in coal mines and factories and not to school, which was common in the 19th century. There's a very old poem called "The Chimney Sweep" about a boy who cleans chimneys and is only about five years old!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

aberration aberrations

On Wednesday, Prentice had called his alleged wrongdoing "an aberration" and vowed a thorough and transparent investigation, while insisting it should not be used "to cast aspersions" on other academics from ethnic minority backgrounds.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

“Creep” is like an aberration — it wasn’t really a Radiohead song.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

When you have the conversation — after you’ve cooled off — you will know whether this was an aberration or part of a wider pattern of inappropriate behavior.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026

Most media coverage treated this as an unfortunate aberration in what is otherwise settled science.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026

Fischer-doubters, especially the Soviets, had suggested that his total destruction of Taimanov was an aberration.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

If they detected any aberrations, they’d tweak the machines after the fact.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

The fires, the floods, the cascading disasters, aren’t aberrations we’ll overcome and move past, but rather the conditions under which we now live, she said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 27, 2026

"Studies suggest these aberrations in the vortex are happening more often in a warming world, which favors more frequent winter extremes," said Francis.

From Barron's ● Jan. 22, 2026

And mind you, those guys on my road are anything but aberrations.

From Salon ● Oct. 13, 2025

But despite these aberrations he seemed to be accepted as an islander, simply because he had called Auntie Braxton “Trudy,” a name nobody had used for her since she was a young woman.

From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson

Related Words

• deviation
• distortion
• diversion
• lapse