MEANING
To become different or move away from a shared point, pattern, or expectation.
Use it for
contrasting results; widening gaps; departures from a modelSpecify where two paths or interpretations cease to agree.
Words that belong together
- diverge from expectations
- diverging trends
- diverge in interpretation
On the page
Actual spending diverged sharply from the approved budget.
The two historians diverge in their interpretation of the same letters.
After the policy change, urban and rural employment trends began to diverge.
Nearby words
Opposite meanings
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- diverge / diverges
- Past tense
- diverged
- Past participle
- diverged
- Present participle
- diverging
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- diverge / diverges
- Present continuous
- am/is/are diverging
- Present perfect
- have/has diverged
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been diverging
- Past
- diverged
- Past continuous
- was/were diverging
- Past perfect
- had diverged
- Past perfect continuous
- had been diverging
- Future
- will diverge / diverges
- Future continuous
- will be diverging
- Future perfect
- will have diverged
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been diverging
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: academic. Usually intransitive; diverge from an account or diverge in their conclusions. Can indicate existing differences as well as increasing separation. Verb inflections [base, third-person singular, past, past participle, -ing]: diverge, diverges, diverged, diverged, diverging. Derived family (not inflections): divergence, divergent.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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