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

Among his fellow disciples of Sigmund Freud, Alexander was a bit of an outlier. —Los Angeles Times, 13 Jan. 2026

In the University of Michigan’s November consumer sentiment report, Hsu noted that an outlier in declining sentiment could be found among consumers in the largest tercile of stock holdings, for whom optimism had risen 11% that month. —Tristan Bove, Fortune, 12 Jan. 2026

The Arkansas transfer’s season-high 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting was an outlier amid a season of struggle. —Edgar Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 12 Jan. 2026

Frey said an incident Friday night that led to property damage at an area hotel and confrontation with police officers was an outlier to the largely peaceful events in recent days. —Michael Loria, USA Today, 11 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1606, in the meaning defined at sense 3b