aberration

noun

ab·​er·​ra·​tion ˌa-bə-ˈrā-shən 

1

a

: the fact or an instance of deviating or being aberrant especially from a moral standard or normal state

aberrations of character

b

: something or someone regarded as atypical and therefore able to be ignored or discounted

Harkins was to be regarded as an aberration among American military leaders …

—Neil Sheehan

The U.S. establishment treated this grassroots movement almost as an aberration, virtually ignoring it.

—Helen Caldicott

As for Putin's desire to lay waste to Chechnya, Western leaders largely dismiss it as an aberration …

—The New Republic

2

: failure of a mirror, refracting surface, or lens to produce exact point-to-point correspondence between an object and its image

chromatic aberration

… the telescope suffers from a serious focusing problem, a condition known as spherical aberration, which causes the point-like images of stars to be surrounded by fuzzy haze.

—M. Mitchell Waldrop

3

: unsoundness or disorder of the mind

4

: a small periodic change of apparent position in celestial bodies due to the combined effect of the motion of light and the motion of the observer

5

: an aberrant individual

aberrational

ˌa-bə-ˈrā-sh(ə-)nəl 

adjective

aberrational behavior

They react, often in anger, to particular decisions but tend to regard them as aberrational rather than systemic failures.

—Robert H. Bork

Synonyms

• dementia
• derangement
• insanity
• lunacy
• madness
• mania
• rage [archaic]

Examples of aberration in a Sentence

Recently geneticists have taken a closer look at a genetic aberration previously considered rare … . The genes may be perfectly normal, yet there is a shortage or surplus of DNA sequences that may play a role in diseases that defy straightforward genetic patterns … —Melinda Wenner, Scientific American, June 2009

He did hit five homers for Texas in 1987, but that was an aberration. In no other major league season has he hit more than three, and last season he actually came up with a goose egg. —E. M. Swift, Sports Illustrated, 5 Apr. 1989

Gilliard's studies of numerous bird of paradise species brought them from the realm of exotic aberrations to the forefront of sociobiology. —Jared M. Diamond, Nature, 24-30 Sept. 1981

For her, such a low grade on an exam was an aberration.

a study of sexual aberration

Recent Examples on the Web

The soul-crushing void of solitary confinement and the constant threat of inmate-on-inmate violence appear not as aberrations but as tools on which the system tacitly relies. —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 11 Sep. 2024

But Holocaust survivor Charlotte Knobloch, president of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, cautioned against labeling AfD’s successes as an aberration. —Stefanie Dazio and Kirsten Grieshaber, Los Angeles Times, 2 Sep. 2024

For some conservative commentators, the feminist mainstreaming of the 2010s is a bizarre aberration, a refusal to acknowledge such self-evident truths as the fact that everyone likes a cute blonde with an ample bosom and a small dress. —Constance Grady, Vox, 2 Mar. 2024

A lot still rides on Snell repeating his historic second-half success, Webb’s past three starts being an aberration rather than a sign of things to come, a 32-year-old coming back from major elbow surgery and two rookies whose workloads will have to be monitored. —Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 30 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin aberrātiōn-, aberrātiō "diversion, relief," from aberrāre "to wander away" + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of action nouns — more at aberrant entry 1

First Known Use

1588, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing aberration

• chromatic aberration
• spherical aberration

Kids Definition

aberration

noun

ab·​er·​ra·​tion ˌab-ə-ˈrā-shən 

1

: the act of differing especially from a moral standard or normal state

2

: unsoundness or disorder of the mind

3

: a small regularly occurring change of apparent position in heavenly bodies due to the combined effect of the motion of light and the motion of the observer

Medical Definition

aberration

noun

ab·​er·​ra·​tion ˌab-ə-ˈrā-shən 

1

: failure of a mirror, refracting surface, or lens to produce exact point-to-point correspondence between an object and its image

2

: unsoundness or disorder of the mind

3

: an aberrant organ or individual

aberrational

-shnəl, -shən-əl 

adjective