outlier
noun
out·li·er
ˈau̇t-ˌlī(-ə)r 
1
: a person whose residence and place of business are at a distance
His house was a place of refuge for outliers.
2
: something (such as a geologic feature) that is situated away from or classed differently from a main or related body
The island is an outlier on the southeast side of the archipelago.
3
a
: a statistical observation that is markedly different in value from the others of the sample
Values that are outliers give disproportionate weight to larger over smaller values.
b
: a person or thing that is atypical within a particular group, class, or category
She was an outlier when she launched her cruelty-free, sustainably minded brand in 2001, but has found the centre of gravity shifting in her direction.—
Jess Cartner-Morley
Jess Cartner-MorleyAmong the world's wealthy nations, the United States is an outlier on this issue: Americans have the lowest national minimum wage, relative to the median wage, of any of the wealthy nations represented in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.—Christopher Ingraham
Christopher IngrahamExamples of outlier in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Consider a hypothetical example of a school with a 3.9 average rating (dominated by 5-star reviews with a few outliers).
—Ray Ravaglia, Forbes, 20 Nov. 2024
The expansion of Fresh Brothers is somewhat of an outlier in the fast-casual dining industry, where many chains have been struggling amid inflation and high labor costs.
—Caroline Petrow-Cohen, Los Angeles Times, 19 Nov. 2024
Those who wistfully compare today’s relatively low fertility rates with the baby booms of the 1950s and 1960s should remember that the rates of this period were in fact historically outliers.
—Vegard Skirbekk, Foreign Affairs, 6 Nov. 2024
That attitude was far from an outlier outside the elite college in deep blue Santa Clara County.
—Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 5 Nov. 2024
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Ray Ravaglia, Forbes, 20 Nov. 2024
The expansion of Fresh Brothers is somewhat of an outlier in the fast-casual dining industry, where many chains have been struggling amid inflation and high labor costs.
—Caroline Petrow-Cohen, Los Angeles Times, 19 Nov. 2024
Those who wistfully compare today’s relatively low fertility rates with the baby booms of the 1950s and 1960s should remember that the rates of this period were in fact historically outliers.
—Vegard Skirbekk, Foreign Affairs, 6 Nov. 2024
That attitude was far from an outlier outside the elite college in deep blue Santa Clara County.
—Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 5 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for outlier
Dictionary Entries Near outlier
Cite this Entry
“Outlier.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/outlier. Accessed 29 Nov. 2024.
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