Definition of aberrant
2
: straying from the right or normal way
- aberrant misfits
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Examples of aberrant in a Sentence
- The stones, silvered in the moon's aberrant light, shone like spectral tombs, and the figures, which Dalgliesh knew were Helena, Lettie and the Bostocks, became discarnate shapes disappearing into the darkness. —P. D. James, The Private Patient, 2008
- … as if he had happily spied an aberrant crocus amid the wintry gray scene of Presidential impeachment. —Francis X. Clines, New York Times, 8 Jan. 1999
- … at the brief and aberrant moment in time when it was possible to believe that America owed its great place in the world to its military and moral virtue rather than to the weight of its currency. —Lewis H. Lapham, Harper's, March 1992
a year of aberrant weather—record rainfall in the summer, record heat in the autumn
aberrant behavior can be a sign of rabies in a wild animal
Recent Examples of aberrant from the Web
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In complex organisms such as humans, protection comes in part from having an immune system to destroy aberrant cells.
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Many Republicans regard the race as aberrant because of Bannon’s intense desire to unseat Republican incumbent Luther Strange.
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But new parents who turn to search engines to understand the practice will find an aberrant—and dangerous—strain of thinking.
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When creating a notable renovation on an otherwise dull block, isn’t there a danger of the home looking a bit aberrant?
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Immigration experts acknowledged that Trump’s surprise election may have been responsible for the severe, historically aberrant drop in border arrests in 2017.
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Her work includes explaining how aberrant signaling causes changes in blood vessels that contribute to breast cancer.
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An aberrant arm juts out from one side, sporting a Mickey Mouse glove glazed with Viennese florals.
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Like alcohol and some other sleeping pills, Ambien and its generic equivalent, zolpidem, can lower a person’s inhibitions and lead to aberrant behavior, Doghramji said.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'aberrant.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
Something aberrant has wandered away from the usual path or form. The word is generally used in a negative way; aberrant behavior, for example, may be a symptom of other problems. But the discovery of an aberrant variety of a species can be exciting news to a biologist, and identifying an aberrant gene has led the way to new treatments for diseases.
aberrant Synonyms
Synonyms
aberrational, abnormal, anomalous, atypical, deviant, deviate, irregular, unnatural, untypical;
Near Antonyms
common, commonplace, everyday, familiar, ordinary, routine, run-of-the-mill, run-of-the-mine (or run-of-mine), unexceptional, unremarkable, workaday;
archetypal (also archetypical), average, characteristic, representative;
Related Words
rare, uncommon, uncustomary, unusual, unwonted;
bizarre, curious, far-out, funny, kinky, odd, outlandish, out-of-the-way, quirky, remarkable, screwy, strange, wacky (also whacky), way-out, weird, wild;
eccentric, freakish, idiosyncratic, nonconformist, unconventional, unorthodox;
Definition of aberrant
1
: a group, individual, or structure that is not normal or typical : an aberrant group, individual, or structure
2
: a person whose behavior departs substantially from the standard
Origin and Etymology of aberrant
noun derivative of 1aberrant
NEW! Time Traveler
First Known Use: 1840
in the meaning defined at sense 1
See Words from the same yearMedical Dictionary
Learn More about aberrant
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See words that rhyme with aberrant Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for aberrant Spanish Central: Translation of aberrant Nglish: Translation of aberrant for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of aberrant for Arabic speakers
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