anomaly

play

noun anom·a·ly \ ə-ˈnä-mə-lē \

Definition of anomaly

plural anomalies

1 :something different, abnormal, peculiar, or not easily classified :something anomalous

They regarded the test results as an anomaly.

2 :deviation from the common rule :irregularity

3 :the angular distance of a planet from its perihelion as seen from the sun

See anomaly defined for English-language learners

See anomaly defined for kids

Examples of anomaly in a Sentence

In approximately 10% of patients, autism can be explained by genetic syndromes and known chromosomal anomalies (most of which have recognizable features in addition to autism) … —Lauren A. Weiss et al., New England Journal of Medicine, 14 Feb. 2008
Eleven minutes may not sound like much when you're waiting for a table at your favorite restaurant, but in the course of centuries, eleven minutes and change become a formidable chunk of time. By the 1300s, those superfluous minutes had added up to hours, then days, then more than a week. The calendar was losing time, irrevocably, to the "real" year, slipping further and further behind in its measurement of the earth's orbit. Anomalies began to creep into what had been the certainties of life. The spring equinox—one of two moments in the year when day and night are of equal length all over the earth, and which occurs on or about March 21—began to fall on March 16, then 15, then 14. —Michelle Stacey, Harper's, December 2006
Californians aren't the only ones vexed by rolling brownouts and other power-supply anomalies. Everyday power spikes, surges, sags, and line noise cause computers, stereo equipment, televisions, telephones, and other delicate electronic equipment to go psychotic or have complete nervous breakdowns. —Fortune, 25 June 2001
This policy may well have made sense back when steroid use was an anomaly. Now that bulking up with chemical help seems to be more popular than ever, it's incumbent on baseball to take action. —Steve Kettman, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2000
We couldn't explain the anomalies in the test results.
her C grade is an anomaly, as she's never made anything except A's and B's before

Recent Examples of anomaly from the Web

True freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts was a welcome anomaly on offense, and his game-winning drive against Clemson was only nullified by Watson’s heroics.

— brendan marks, charlotteobserver, "The top 10 college football talkers of 2017 ... from the top: Don’t count out Clemson," 26 Aug. 2017
Larry Hale is a biological anomaly, spurning age and cancer with every stomp of the gas pedal.

— rachel roberts, idahostatesman, "Age, cancer haven’t stopped 82-year-old from putting pedal to the metal," 11 Aug. 2017
I was raised as an anomaly in a homogenous suburb, and instead sought to achieve the body types of then-It girl icons like Amy Winehouse and Nicole Richie.

— emilly prado, Marie Claire, "How 'To the Bone' Contributes to the Whitewashing of Eating Disorders," 21 July 2017
In other words, the stadium is parked under a faucet: The pattern of rainfall anomalies is most evident in the early evening hours of the day and is hypothesized to be related to the evolution of the skin or surface urban heat island.

— greg bluestein, ajc, "The science of rain delays: SunTrust is parked under a faucet," 19 July 2017
This malfeasance may seem like a historical anomaly, not to mention a catastrophe, but its also probably just the beginning of what’s going to come in future elections.

— vanityfair.com, "The Real Tragedy of Donnygate," 13 July 2017
This malfeasance may seem like a historical anomaly, not to mention a catastrophe, but its also probably just the beginning of what’s going to come in future elections.

— nick bilton, The Hive, "The Real Tragedy of Donnygate," 13 July 2017
White’s accountants claimed to have found anomalies in the handling of Depp’s finances by his former business managers, Robert and Joel Mandel, and their firm, the Management Group (TMG).

— mark seal, Vanities, "How Did Johnny Depp Find Himself in a Financial Crisis?," 11 July 2017
The company has formed the Automotive Fraud Consortium, where lenders share loan data for PointPredictive’s algorithms to analyze for anomalies that signal fraud.

— mike freeman, sandiegouniontribune.com, "2 fraud veterans found start-up to fight auto lending scams," 6 July 2017

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