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

Among 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

Examples of outlier in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Most of the balls are held in carnival season of January and February, ending by Ash Wednesday, but there are some outliers at other times as well. —Marla Jo Fisher, Oc Register, 18 Feb. 2026

His 2023 strikeout rate collapse to near 11 percent is a clear outlier compared with surrounding seasons in the 23-24 percent range, although Steamer is more optimistic than other systems and projects a lower K rate. —Derek Vanriper, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2026

Is one of these items an outlier? —Harvey Levine, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Feb. 2026

Mississippi State's 12-point win at Ole Miss was an outlier based on recent results. —Tom Murphy, Arkansas Online, 17 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1606, in the meaning defined at sense 3b