deviance

American  

[dee-vee-uhns] / ˈdi vi əns /

Also deviancy

noun

1. deviant quality or state.

2. deviant behavior.

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deviance British  

/ ˈdiːvɪəns /

noun

1. Also called: deviancy.  the act or state of being deviant

2. statistics a measure of the degree of fit of a statistical model compared to that of a more complete model

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Etymology

Origin of deviance

First recorded in 1940–45; devi(ant) + -ance

Example Sentences

Risky decisions can became routine at any workplace, she suggests, labeling this effect the “normalization of deviance.”

From The Wall Street Journal

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

The character’s deviance from all authority and especially male authority lives in her feminism, her clothes and her music taste.

From Salon

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

In the most basic sense, they have normalized deviance and embraced antisocial and other anti-democratic values and beliefs as a function of what psychologists have described as “malignant normality”.

From Salon