aberration
/ˌæb.əˈɹeɪ.ʃn̩/
Frequency: 2.98 in modern English
Meaning
noun
The act of wandering; deviation from truth, moral rectitude; abnormal; divergence from the straight, correct, proper, normal, or from the natural state.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
The convergence to different foci, by a lens or mirror, of rays of light emanating from one and the same point, or the deviation of such rays from a single focus; a defect in a focusing mechanism that prevents the intended focal point.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A small periodical change of the apparent positions of the stars and other heavenly bodies, due to the combined effect of the motion of light and the motion of the observer.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A small periodical change of the apparent positions of the stars and other heavenly bodies, due to the combined effect of the motion of light and the motion of the observer.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "the aberration of youth"
- "aberrations from theory"
- "aberration of character"
- "A derailment which occurred on April 18 last between Laindon and Pitsea on the London Tilbury & Southend Line was caused by a lengthman who in a moment of aberration clipped a set of spring catch points in the derailing position, concludes Col. J. R. H. Robertson in his report […]."
- "The bulk of questionable experimentation upon African Americans is not detailed here because much of it consists of aberrations in therapeutics that were ostensibly meant to cure."
- "Our ancien regime, like the aristocracy of pre-revolutionary France, thought the party would never end. 2016 shook their historicist faith in the arc of the moral universe but by 2020 they hoped to write Trump off as an aberration. In retrospect, 2020 was the aberration, the rearguard action of a struggling regime and its struldbrugg ruler."
Etymology
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌæb.əˈɹeɪ.ʃn̩/