outlier

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noun out·li·er \ˈau̇t-ˌlī(-ə)r\

Definition of outlier

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 geological 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 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.

Recent Examples of outlier from the Web

The president’s daughter was a noticeable outlier at the table, an unelected and inexperienced representative sitting beside Chinese President Xi Jinping, British Prime Minister Theresa May, and Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

— politifact, Teen Vogue, "Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. Contradict the Truth, Too," 15 July 2017
Trump went to the G-20 making America very much the outlier.

— jon talton, The Seattle Times, "Let’s hope bashing of global trade is just talk," 8 July 2017
Among gunshot survivors, 51-year-old House Majority Whip Steve Scalise is an outlier.

— suzanne woolley, idahostatesman, "After Obamacare, don’t expect health coverage if you survive a gunshot wound," 7 July 2017
These changes won't affect most of the lifer population, however and Louisiana will remain an outlier in doling out life-without-parole sentences.

— julia o'donoghue, NOLA.com, "For a few Louisiana lifers, a new chance at parole," 6 July 2017
IHeartMedia, though, was an outlier, up 49 percent as investors grew more confident that their stock won't be wiped out by a bankruptcy.

— paul bond, The Hollywood Reporter, "Media Stocks Suffer in Trump Era," 30 June 2017
Whatever their purpose, the carvings seem to mark the skulls as outliers: Dozens of other skull fragments have been found at Göbekli Tepe with no sign of carving or cutting.

— andrew curry, Science | AAAS, "Carved human skulls found in ancient stone temple," 28 June 2017
But Thomas again stands as a crazy outlier, earning only $500,000 per Win Share based on his $6.3 million salary and 12.6 Win Shares.

— ben golliver, SI.com, "Are The Celtics On The Brink Of A Superteam?," 28 June 2017
Now, bearing the gold and diamonds, the man who wasn’t supposed to be a star has a chance to show the Marlins that last season’s second half was an outlier.

— ethan bauer, miamiherald, "Marcell Ozuna’s big year may lead to starting Miami All-Star Game," 26 June 2017

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