Skip to content
  • Washington State University
Common Errors in English Usage and More The Web Site of Professor Paul Brians Common Errors in English Usage and More
Give
Choose to search this site or all WSU sites
  • Home
  • Common Errors in English Usage
    • List of Common Errors
    • Videos Created by NBC Based on This Web Site
    • Commonly Made Suggestions
    • More Errors (Eggcorns)
    • Non-errors
    • Other Commonly Misspelled Words
    • Common Errors: The Book
    • Common Errors: The Podcast
  • Science Fiction-Related Materials
  • Nuclear War-Related Materials
  • Bibliographies & Filmographies
    • Nuke Pop: Popular Culture Images
  • Study Materials
  • Paul Brians' Photos
  • Humor & Miscellany
  • The Chernobyl Poems
  • Archives
    • Nuclear Texts and Contexts Newsletter Archives
    • Illustrated History of WSU Student Activism in the 60s
    • "Tour of WSU and the Palouse" Photo Archive
  • Home
  • Common Errors in English Usage
    • List of Common Errors
    • Videos Created by NBC Based on This Web Site
    • Commonly Made Suggestions
    • More Errors (Eggcorns)
    • Non-errors
    • Other Commonly Misspelled Words
    • Common Errors: The Book
    • Common Errors: The Podcast
  • Science Fiction-Related Materials
  • Nuclear War-Related Materials
  • Bibliographies & Filmographies
    • Nuke Pop: Popular Culture Images
  • Study Materials
  • Paul Brians' Photos
  • Humor & Miscellany
  • The Chernobyl Poems
  • Archives
    • Nuclear Texts and Contexts Newsletter Archives
    • Illustrated History of WSU Student Activism in the 60s
    • "Tour of WSU and the Palouse" Photo Archive

deviant / deviate

May 25, 2016

The technical term used by professionals to label someone whose behavior deviates from the norm is “deviate,” but if you want to tease a perv friend you may as well call him a “deviant”—that’s what almost everybody else says. In your sociology class, however, you might want to stick with “deviate.”

Back to list of errors

Common Errors in English Usage book cover
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on FaceBook
  • Share on Linkedin
  • share with email
  • share with link
By yanira.vargas
Categories: Common Error
Washington State University
© Washington State University 2026
  • Access
  • Policies
  • MyWSU
  • Follow WSU