deviate
verb
Simple meaning
Cause to turn away from a previous or expected course.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
deeveeaytSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈdivieɪt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Cause to turn away from a previous or expected course
“The river was deviated to prevent flooding.”
intransitive
To go off course from; to change course; to change plans.
intransitivefigurative
To fall outside of, or part from, some norm; to stray.
transitive
To cause to diverge.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Cause to turn away from a previous or expected course
Used this way, deviate is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“The river was deviated to prevent flooding.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “deviate to …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: deviate to …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use deviate
- “The river was deviated to prevent flooding.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Abnormal shift in location of the nasal septum.
Abnormal displacement of any wall that separates two chambers (usually in the nasal cavity).
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A variation that deviates from the standard or norm.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: cause to turn away from a previous
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.