Deviate Meaning
/ˈdiː.vi.eɪt/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo go off course from; to change course; to change plans.
verbTo fall outside of, or part from, some norm; to stray.
Sentence Examples
Let's not deviate from the subject.
I don't want to deviate from the plan.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The pilot was instructed not to ____ from the assigned flight path.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Let's not ____ from the subject.
Word Origin & History
From Late Latin dēviātus, perfect passive participle of dēviō, see -ate (verb-forming suffix) for more. Compare French dévier.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"These two circumstances, however, happening both unfortunately to intervene, our travellers deviated into a much less frequented track; and after riding full six miles, instead of arriving at the stately spires of Coventry, they found themselves still in a very dirty lane, where they saw no symptoms of approaching the suburbs of a large city."
— 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling:
"Thus Pegasus, a nearer way to take, / May boldly deviate from the common track."
— 1711 May, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W[illiam] Lewis […]; and sold by W[illiam] Taylor […], T[homas] Osborn[e] […], and J[ohn] Graves […], →OCLC:
"Now listen to what you've got to do, and this time if you deviate a single hair or try any of your monkey tricks it's the deep end you'll go off at."
— 1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London:
"[…] Walton has suggested that it is desirable "to name the phenomena signs of deviation, and call their possessors deviates or a deviate as the case may be […]"
— 1915, James Cornelius Wilson, A Handbook of medical diagnosis:
"Under these conditions the person who appears as a deviate is a deviate only because we have chosen, somewhat arbitrarily, to call him a member of the court […]"
— 1959, Leon Festinger, Stanley Schachter, Kurt W. Back, Social Pressures in Informal Groups: A Study of Human Factors in Housing:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The pilot was instructed not to ____ from the assigned flight path.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Let's not ____ from the subject.