anomaly

anom·a·ly | \ ə-ˈnä-mə-lē

plural anomalies

Definition of anomaly

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

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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 on the Web Twenty-seven years later, the statistical anomaly of an era not fathomable -- not even in 2020. — Michael Casagrande | Mcasagrande@al.com, al, "No cigars, only confusing emotions followed 1993 Alabama-Tennessee tie," 21 Oct. 2020 Rosenthal has spent the past 25 years in Point Roberts, a geographical anomaly of five square miles wedged at the southern tip of the Tsawwassen Peninsula, about 20 miles south of Vancouver. — Ben Harris, sun-sentinel.com, "Meet the 86-year-old Jewish volunteer running a food bank on the outskirts of America," 9 Sep. 2020 But its speedy return to operations, along with the USS Midway Museum, which also reopened Monday, is an anomaly among San Diego County museums. — Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, "San Diego museums cleared to reopen but most will take their time," 2 Sep. 2020 This makes Lazy Bear an anomaly at a time when people in the restaurant industry nationwide are talking about labor and how to give employees livable wages. — Janelle Bitker, SFChronicle.com, "San Francisco’s Lazy Bear rose out of a recession. Can it survive coronavirus?," 13 Aug. 2020 That's precisely the basis for a recent Johns Hopkins University study about a man with a rare brain anomaly that prevents him from seeing certain numbers. — Courtney Linder, Popular Mechanics, "Why This Guy Sees Spaghetti Squiggles Instead of Numbers," 24 June 2020 The second anomaly of this primary care practice is what is missing from the exam rooms: there are no scales. — Virginia Sole-smith, Scientific American, "What if Doctors Stopped Prescribing Weight Loss?," 16 June 2020 FRBs are perhaps the most mysterious anomaly in space, with many having unknown origins. — Fox News, "Another fast radio burst in deep space that repeats has been found and scientists are stunned," 9 June 2020 Before anyone does a victory dance, there are a number of anomalies to this report that make the official number sound way too good to be true. Silencing shareholders. — Bernhard Warner, Fortune, "Can the markets match last week’s monster rally?," 8 June 2020

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.