Definition of ANOMALOUSNESS

Choose the Right Synonym for anomalous

irregular, anomalous, unnatural mean not conforming to rule, law, or custom. irregular implies not conforming to a law or regulation imposed for the sake of uniformity in method, practice, or conduct. concerned about his irregular behavior anomalous implies not conforming to what might be expected because of the class or type to which it belongs or the laws that govern its existence. her drive made her an anomalous figure in a sleepy organization unnatural suggests what is contrary to nature or to principles or standards felt to be essential to the well-being of civilized society. prisoners treated with unnatural cruelty

Examples of anomalous in a Sentence

Researchers could not explain the anomalous test results. that was an anomalous year for the housing industry, so the number of starts is anything but typical When you’re a child, everything local is famous. On that principle, Hoyt-Schermerhorn was the most famous subway station in the world. It was the first subway station I knew, and it took years for me to disentangle my primal fascination with its status as a functional ruin, an indifferent home to clockwork chaos, from the fact that it was, in objective measure, an anomalous place. Personal impressions and neighborhood lore swirled in my exaggerated regard. In fact the place was cool and weird beyond my obsession’s parameters, cooler and weirder than most subway stations anyway. —“Speak, Hoyt-Schermerhorn” P. 73, Jonathan Lethem, HARPER’S MAGAZINE Vol. 309 No. 1855, December 2004 A whole raft of species prefer living in this type of comfortable, settled, old forest, says Spaulding, which means that Borestone supports a unique variety of life, a bunch of animals not necessarily common to the area. Even the rocks and ponds are a bit anomalous for the Maine woods. It's just the kind of rarity and diversity you might expect in an Audubon sanctuary–especially one that comprises more than half of the society's total acreage in the state. —"Borestone Mountain hideaway" P. 70, Andrew Vietze, DOWN EAST Vol. 50 No. 2, September 2003 London was more of an agglutination than any kind of classical construction, buildings stuck together and clotted as a mass of swallows’ or bats’ nests. The many official attempts in the first decade of the century to clarify and cleanse the city, to impose order and uniformity on its bubbling and anomalous being, repeatedly failed. This animal aspect of London was always too powerful. —“Two” P. 24, GOD’S SECRETARIES, Adam Nicolson, HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 220.5 N54g ©2003 Many regions in Italy insist on the differences and integrity of local cuisine, scoffing at tourist restaurants that will serve a dish as anomalous as "spaghetti bolognese," mixing tropes of north and south with appalling familiarity. But Trieste cooks as it lives—in a simmering melting pot. —"Pursuits & Retreats" P. 83, John Donatich, THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY Vol. 289 No. 6, June 2002 The book explores scientific evidence on altered states of consciousness associated with mystical experiences, near-death incidents, alien-abduction reports, and other so-called anomalous events. —"Into the Mystic" P. 104, Bruce Bower, SCIENCE NEWS Vol. 159 No. 7, February 17, 2001 There are different red/green colour deficiencies, though. The most common, which affects some five per cent of men, is 'defective' green vision - deuteranomalous trichromatism. Translated, that means normal colour vision ( trichromatism) affected by problems (anomalous) in the middle, green wavelength (deuter). —"Life: Life&Soul: Health: Hue and cry: Is severe colour-blindness a handicap or just a different way of seeing the world? Peter Silverton reports on his sons' 'colour deficiency'", Pg. 39, BYLINE: Peter Silverton, THE OBSERVER [NEXIS], Copyright 2001 Guardian Newspapers Limited, July 1, 2001

Recent Examples on the Web

In view of the unprecedented magnitude of impending structural federal budget deficits, along with an unemployment rate that is likely below the sustainable rate (thus auguring rising inflation), the current Treasury bond yield appears anomalous. — WSJ, "A Looming Recession? Look at Interest Rates," 3 Oct. 2018 This single, failed, anomalous project in no way represents the U.S. wind fleet, which goes through a rigorous and thorough process to ensure compliance with all regulations before construction. — WSJ, "Well-Sited Wind Towers Make Good Sense," 11 Feb. 2019 Oddly enough, Pennsylvania has historically seen far fewer tornadoes on Wednesdays and Saturdays. While this is pure coincidence, that anomalous pattern did not prove to be the case Wednesday night. — Matthew Cappucci, Washington Post, "Striking in the dark of night, the Wilkes-Barre tornado was a freak," 15 June 2018 So Parkland may not have led to a big, permanent boost in support for gun control — at least, not levels of support that are historically anomalous. — German Lopez, Vox, "How the Parkland shooting changed America’s gun debate," 26 Dec. 2018 Our paper suggests that New York City’s experience may be anomalous. — Salvador Rizzo, Washington Post, "Jeff Sessions’s claim that an ACLU settlement with Chicago caused murders to spike," 14 May 2018 Here are some other exotic phenomena that could leave anomalous trails in MoEDAL’s detection system. — Adam Hadhazy, Discover Magazine, "Scientists Hunt for A Seeming Paradox: A Magnet With Only One Pole," 13 Nov. 2018 And the answer is basically that high oil prices plus savings and loan deregulation created an anomalous construction boom/bust cycle in the 1980s that left Texas oversupplied with housing. — Matthew Yglesias, Vox, "Austin can’t stay weird," 28 Sep. 2018 Astronomers have long known that some type of very small, rapidly spinning particle is throwing off this faint light, which is known as anomalous microwave emission (AME). — Mike Wall, Space.com, "Puzzling Cosmic Glow Is Caused by Diamond Dust Glamming Up Stars," 11 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'anomalous.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.