diverge
Americanverb (used without object)
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diverges,
present (3rd person singular)
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diverged,
past participle, past
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diverging
present participle
-
to move, lie, or extend in different directions from a common point; branch off.
-
to differ in opinion, character, form, etc.; deviate.
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Mathematics. (of a sequence, series, etc.) to have no unique limit; to have infinity as a limit.
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to turn aside or deviate, as from a path, practice, or plan.
verb (used with object)
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diverges,
present (3rd person singular)
-
diverged,
past participle, past
-
diverging
present participle
verb
-
to separate or cause to separate and go in different directions from a point
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(intr) to be at variance; differ
our opinions diverge
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(intr) to deviate from a prescribed course
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(intr) maths (of a series or sequence) to have no limit
Synonym Usage
See deviate.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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divergesimple
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divergessimple
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have divergedperfect
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has divergedperfect
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am divergingprogressive
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are divergingprogressive
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is divergingprogressive
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have been divergingperfect progressive
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has been divergingperfect progressive
Past
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divergedsimple
-
had divergedperfect
-
was divergingprogressive
-
were divergingprogressive
-
had been divergingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of diverge
First recorded in 1655–65; from Medieval Latin dīvergere, from Latin dī- di- 2 + vergere “to incline”
Explanation
When two roads diverge, they split and go in different directions. If your opinion diverges from mine, we do not agree. To diverge means to move apart or be separate. The poet, Robert Frost, wrote: "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -/ I took the one less traveled by / And that has made all the difference." The word diverge in the poem carries both the meaning of separating and of being apart from the main. As a poet, it was Frost's job to use words properly. Here he does not diverge from this role.
Vocabulary lists containing diverge
List 2
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Twelve Angry Men
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"The Road Not Taken"
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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:
Hammack said she sees a forecast as a yardstick and not a prediction: a way to measure her expectations against reality and adjust as the two diverge.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
In the elementary school years, their trajectories diverge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
As chromosome mixing accumulates over time, lineages continue to diverge.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026
The dispersion index rises when investors’ expectations for how certain individual stocks will move begins to diverge with the S&P 500.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 16, 2026
Through well-tended gardens beyond her patio, narrow stone paths diverge.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
In fact, Wilson argues that his view of a broadening in earnings growth and market leadership diverges from the Wall Street consensus.
From Barron's ● May 13, 2026
Norton, the showrunner of Netflix’s “Finding Her Edge,” said much of that show’s plot diverges from Jennifer Iacopelli’s novel.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2026
Directionally, the survey diverges from another big independent survey of consumers, published by the University of Michigan, which showed sentiment ticking higher in January as it bounced off near-record lows reached late last year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 27, 2026
Campbell makes the point “when the physical diverges so sharply from the paper like this, one of them is wrong and historically, it’s not physical.”
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 29, 2025
Our cruising billet is about 150 miles south-west of the Scillys, at the focal point where trade for Liverpool and Bristol and the up-channel trade diverges.
From The Diary of a U-boat Commander With an Introduction and Explanatory Notes by Etienne by Sir Stephen King-Hall
The personalities of the two men likewise diverged.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
The researchers also noted that jellyfish, which diverged from humans about 600 to 700 million years ago, possess two nervous systems positioned at different ends of their bodies.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026
For many months, the Magnificent Seven diverged as different narratives drove share prices.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
She and I have diverged a lot over the years, but her voice is still strong and clear in my ear, and I’ve had so much fun writing for her again.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
Once, when the road diverged, Tristran was concerned that they might take the wrong fork.
From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman
"China's economy continues to show diverging signals, as consumption and investment remain weak while industrial production maintains the momentum," Zhiwei Zhang, President and Chief Economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, wrote in an analyst note.
From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026
Could two of California’s biggest cities be diverging?
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
“Our overweight sectors, Tech, Industrials, Financials, have seen diverging fundamentals & performance trends this quarter, which we see as attractive buying opportunities,” the Wells Fargo team wrote in a Sunday client note.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
For investors, this is a reminder of two basic principles: You can’t judge a fund by its name alone, and diverging even slightly from the broadest exposure to stocks can give you startlingly different results.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
On the other side of the world, beneath the Atlantic Ocean, the tectonic plates are moving apart, or diverging, which creates a more stable seismic environment.
From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
