as in abnormal
departing from some accepted standard of what is normal
some studies show that many violent criminals begin exhibiting deviant behavior in early childhood
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in maverick
a person who does not conform to generally accepted standards or customs
branded as social deviants by a society that did not value self-expression
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of deviant
Christopher R. Browning, The New York Review of Books, 1 Dec. 2022
The Florida bill’s opponents are worried about a world in which teachers have no meaningful way to discuss the real world inhabited by their students, which risks leaving students with the impression that non-straight or non-gender-conforming individuals are somehow deviant.
—Washington Post, 12 Apr. 2022
David Fear, Rolling Stone, 27 Jan. 2025
While reports from the Office of Justice Programs do suggest that children of criminals and abusers are more likely to exhibit deviant behavior, there are always exceptions.
—Mark Travers, Forbes, 24 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for deviant
Adjective
Jähner does not comment on no one seeming to have drawn the lesson that the anti-Semitic stereotype of dishonest and deviant economic behavior that Germans had long identified as a Jewish racial characteristic had turned out to be situationally, not racially, caused.
—Christopher R. Browning, The New York Review of Books, 1 Dec. 2022
The Florida bill’s opponents are worried about a world in which teachers have no meaningful way to discuss the real world inhabited by their students, which risks leaving students with the impression that non-straight or non-gender-conforming individuals are somehow deviant.
—Washington Post, 12 Apr. 2022
Noun
The deviants trying to lure them into statutory rape, however, were real.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 27 Jan. 2025
While reports from the Office of Justice Programs do suggest that children of criminals and abusers are more likely to exhibit deviant behavior, there are always exceptions.
—Mark Travers, Forbes, 24 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for deviant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deviant
Adjective
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Alopecia areata is an autoimmune condition that causes abnormal inflammation around hair follicles, leading to excessive hair loss.—
Ruth Jessen Hickman,
Health,
16 May 2025
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According to the Cleveland Clinic, SADS is a heart condition where an abnormal heart rhythm affects the heart’s electrical system, causing sudden death.—
Gabrielle Rockson,
People.com,
16 May 2025
Noun
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His legendary predecessor Sachin Tendulkar, an almost god-like figure in India, and Australian maverick Shane Warne, who lived a life of glitz and glamor, were similarly box office and, quite frankly, better Test cricketers.—
Tristan Lavalette,
Forbes.com,
12 May 2025
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Around 2016, a poem about the Black polar explorer Matthew Henson by her friend Robin Coste Lewis—another maverick of the archives—helped inspire a series of paintings about the Arctic, which flood its frozen landscapes with electric blues.—
Julian Lucas,
New Yorker,
5 May 2025
Adjective
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While there are certainly products that can be used across different hair textures, lengths, curl patterns, thicknesses, colors (natural and unnatural), and needs, hair products are often created with specific consumers in mind.—
Christa Joanna Lee,
Allure,
18 May 2025
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For her, the idea of being surrounded by people, especially while grieving, felt overwhelming and unnatural.—
Ashley Vega,
People.com,
1 May 2025
Noun
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But the settlers’ belief in the value of public goods and embrace of independent thinkers remain woven into the character of the city, which continues to attract artists, eccentrics and writers.—
Isabelle Taft,
New York Times,
4 May 2025
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Robert Redford delivers folksy wisdom as a local eccentric who once had his own dragon encounter, and even Karl Urban’s greedy logger is more of a nuisance than an outright villain.—
Josh Bell,
Vulture,
21 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Deviant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deviant. Accessed 28 May. 2025.
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