DEVIANT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does deviant mean? 

• DEVIANT (noun)
  The noun DEVIANT has 1 sense:

1. a person whose behavior deviates from what is acceptable especially in sexual behavior

  Familiarity information: DEVIANT used as a noun is very rare.

• DEVIANT (adjective)
  The adjective DEVIANT has 1 sense:

1. markedly different from an accepted norm

  Familiarity information: DEVIANT used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DEVIANT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person whose behavior deviates from what is acceptable especially in sexual behavior

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

degenerate; deviant; deviate; pervert

Hypernyms ("deviant" is a kind of...):

miscreant; reprobate (a person without moral scruples)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "deviant"):

fetishist (one who engages in fetishism (especially of a sexual nature))

masochist (someone who obtains pleasure from receiving punishment)

nympho; nymphomaniac (a woman with abnormal sexual desires)

child molester; paederast; pederast (a man who has sex (usually sodomy) with a boy as the passive partner)

paedophile; pedophile (an adult who is sexually attracted to children)

sadist (someone who obtains pleasure from inflicting pain on others)

sadomasochist (someone who enjoys both sadism and masochism)

lech; lecher; letch; satyr (man with strong sexual desires)

bugger; sod; sodomist; sodomite (someone who engages in anal copulation (especially a male who engages in anal copulation with another male))

Derivation:

deviant (markedly different from an accepted norm)

deviate (be at variance with; be out of line with)

• DEVIANT (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Markedly different from an accepted norm

Synonyms:

aberrant; deviant; deviate

Context example:

deviant ideas

Similar:

abnormal; unnatural (not normal; not typical or usual or regular or conforming to a norm)

Derivation:

deviance (deviate behavior)

deviance (a state or condition markedly different from the norm)

deviant (a person whose behavior deviates from what is acceptable especially in sexual behavior)

deviate (be at variance with; be out of line with)

 Context examples 

The term is often used broadly to include injuries, disabilities, syndromes, symptoms, deviant behaviors, and atypical variations of structure and function.

(Disease or Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)