deviant
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of deviant
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Late Latin dēviant-, stem of dēviāns “straying,” present participle of dēviāre “to stray, turn from the road”; see deviate
Explanation
A deviant is someone whose behavior falls far outside of society's norms; as an adjective, deviant can describe the behavior itself. For example, a fifty-year-old punk rocker has a deviant appearance, compared to his peers. That aging punk deviates, or departs from the norm, of people his age. Both deviant and deviate come from the Latin word deviare, meaning "to turn out of the way." Deviants experience this turning away from society, either by choice, or in the case of someone who has harmed another, perhaps by sexual abuse, by being cast out by people who want nothing to do with them.
Vocabulary lists containing deviant
Latin Love, Vol I: via
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The Field Guide to the North American Teenager
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Little Brother
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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:
Once a slur that implied homosexuality was shamefully deviant, “queer” was “reclaimed” in the 1980s by gay activists as a synonym for “gay.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 2, 2026
That gave people an excuse to start pulling the masks down and indulging in the deviant behaviors often celebrated by drill rappers.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 10, 2023
We could call it a moral panic, a widespread and often unfounded fear about some deviant or alien entity in society.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 21, 2023
The agency's enforcement division is not only responsible for upholding environmental laws and ticketing deviant poachers and recreational vehicle drivers, but it also has full police powers on state lands.
From Salon ● Feb. 19, 2023
None of these is new, but the relative flourishing of the market of vagueness and ambiguity, reflective of a deviant functioning of language, is.
From The Civilization of Illiteracy by Nadin, Mihai
The aberrant child vampire highlights inequality, a deviant even among deviants.
From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2022
He had grown up in India but was studying sociology in London and had been awarded a grant to research political "deviants".
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2022
Whereas each Eternal has a more elaborate power when in battle with deviants, Gilgamesh just punches them in the face really hard.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 5, 2021
“I feel braver and more carefree and less afraid to take up space,” Lee said of the days since the #MeToo movement exposed some of entertainment’s most powerful men as sexual deviants and bullies.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 19, 2018
I can understand why things are so strict here, because it is the best school around for the rich deviants of tomorrow.
From "Winger" by Andrew Smith
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.
