anomaly
noun
Did you know?
You might be familiar with the Greek word homos, which means "same." It is from this word that we get words like homonym, homogeneous, and homophone, all of which have to do with sameness or similarity. What does this have to do with anomaly? Although it's not obvious, homos is a part of the etymology of anomaly, too. Anomaly is a descendant of the Greek word anōmalos, which means "uneven" or "irregular." Anōmalos comes from the prefix a- (meaning "not") and the word homalos (meaning "even")—and homalos comes from homos.
Synonyms
Examples of anomaly in a Sentence
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
Ruth Marcus, Washington Post, 12 July 2024
Is the increase this year simply an anomaly or are tornadoes becoming more frequent?
—Sara Ganim, USA TODAY, 12 July 2024
As Stephanopoulos noted, as damaging to Biden’s case have been the series of stories, in The New York Times and The Washington Post, in which anonymous sources have suggested that the president’s faltering performance was not an anomaly.
—Ted Johnson, Deadline, 5 July 2024
Some Democrats say Biden’s debate performance wasn’t an anomaly as key donors pull support
Kenny Holston / Pool via AFP / Getty Images
President Joe Biden and his team have been working hard to impress on voters the notion that last week’s poor showing at the debate was an anomaly.
—Elizabeth Both, NBC News, 5 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for anomaly 
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Dictionary Entries Near anomaly
Cite this Entry
“Anomaly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anomaly. Accessed 26 Jul. 2024.
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anomaly
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