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Deflect vs Deform - What's the difference?

deflect | deform |

In lang=en terms the difference between deflect and deform

is that deflect is to deviate from its original path while deform is to become misshapen or changed in shape.

As verbs the difference between deflect and deform

is that deflect is to make (something) deviate from its original path while deform is to change the form of, negatively.

As an adjective deform is

(obsolete) deformed, misshapen.

deflect

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To make (something) deviate from its original path.
  • To deviate from its original path.
  • (figuratively) To avoid addressing (questions, criticism, etc.).
  • The Prime Minister deflected some increasingly pointed questions by claiming he had an appointment.
  • (figuratively) To divert (attention, etc.).
  • * 2013 , Luke Harding and Uki Goni, Argentina urges UK to hand back Falklands and 'end colonialism'' (in ''The Guardian , 3 January 2013)[http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jan/02/argentina-britain-hand-back-falklands]
  • Critics suggest that Fernández, an unashamed populist and nationalist, is seeking to deflect attention from social disharmony at home.

    deform

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To change the form of, negatively.
  • To change the looks of, negatively; to disfigure.
  • a face deformed by bitterness
  • To mar the character of.
  • a marriage deformed by jealousy
  • To alter the shape of by stress.
  • To become misshapen or changed in shape.
  • Synonyms

    * distort, contort, warp

    Derived terms

    * deformable * deformation

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (obsolete) Deformed, misshapen.
  • * 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , I.xii:
  • who so kild that monster most deforme , / And him in hardy battaile ouercame, / Should haue mine onely daughter to his Dame [...].