deviance
Americannoun
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Also called: deviancy. the act or state of being deviant
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statistics a measure of the degree of fit of a statistical model compared to that of a more complete model
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of deviance
Explanation
Deviance refers to a state that is veering away from the norm. Wearing a chicken suit to work would definitely be an example of deviance, unless of course you're a mascot. If you know that deviating means to depart from what's normal, you won't be surprised that deviance is a condition of abnormal or aberrant behavior. Deviance includes behavior that is considered weird, odd, and strange. Sometimes, deviance could include illegal behavior. Since people don't agree on what's normal, they don't agree on what counts as deviance either.
Vocabulary lists containing deviance
Hunger of Memory
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The Black Girl Survives in This One
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The study also showed that the brainstem can utilize other features of bat calls for deviance detection, such as rapid changes in frequency or volume, in addition to differences in pitch.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 23, 2024
“Because any time there is a deviance in regards to security protocols, that should be taken serious, it should be investigated,” Ms. Omar said.
From Washington Times ● Jan. 16, 2023
Instead, partly by lifting the pressure of secrecy and diminishing the feeling of deviance, the talk will loosen the hold of hallucinations and, crucially, the grip of isolation.
From New York Times ● May 17, 2022
Journalism historian Daniel Hallin, writing about the Vietnam War, distinguished between three spheres of political debate: the sphere of consensus, the sphere of legitimate controversy and the sphere of deviance.
From Salon ● Jan. 16, 2022
Without equality, eugenics would inevitably falter on the false premise that social ills, such as vagrancy, pauperism, deviance, alcoholism, and feeblemindedness were genetic ills—while, in fact, they merely reflected inequality.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
For several proteins, there were no measurable deviances in the morning and evening levels no matter whether the mothers pumped or breastfed.
From Science Daily ● May 7, 2024
Peacetime CEO strives to tolerate deviances from the plan when coupled with effort and creativity.
From Forbes ● Apr. 14, 2011
Anyone with the price of four issues of Esquire magazine could oink over the deviances of their social betters.
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
