SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
aberration
noun
A departure from what is normal or expected.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Departure from the norm
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topException need not imply an error; aberration often suggests an unusual departure.
RELATED FORMS, ONE FEATURED ENTRY
The aberration family
These forms are closely related, but their grammar and use are not identical. Expand a form to compare its meaning and examples.
aberrantadjective
Departing from the usual or expected pattern.
Outside the usual pattern
Closest synonyms
Related expressions
The researcher checked whether the aberrant result came from a recording error.
An aberrant route taken by a normally steady model sent it circling while the other boats followed the expected line.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See aberration in use
The late arrival was an aberration in her otherwise punctual record.
An archive volunteer noticed an anomaly in a box of carefully numbered photographs: two unrelated pictures carried the same identification code. She initially treated the duplicate as an aberration in an otherwise orderly catalog.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license