deviance
/ˈdiːvɪəns/
"deviance" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“deviance” is an uncommon English word, ranked #56,063 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #56,063
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Actions or behaviors that violate formal and informal cultural norms such as laws and customs.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | deviance |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈdiːvɪəns/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #56,063 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “deviance” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for deviance is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈdiːvɪəns/. Corpus data places it at rank #56,063 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Zero misspellings are on record for deviance in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French déviance. The correct English form is deviance, spelled D-E-V-I-A-N-C-E.
Definition
- 1Actions or behaviors that violate formal and informal cultural norms such as laws and customs.
- 2A person or thing that differs from the expected.
Etymology
Borrowed from French déviance.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “deviance”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-E-V-I-A-N-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈdiːvɪəns/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.