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

The outlier in my everflowing makeup bag is a skin care-like formula that adds a noticeable glow and blurring effect—smoothing big pores and all. —Reece Andavolgyi, InStyle, 24 May 2026

On the other, save for this outlier season when the Bucks did plenty to mothball him in what turned into his 36-game campaign, Antetokounmpo had played 67, 73, 63 and 67 games the previous four seasons. —Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 23 May 2026

Inside the neoliberal paradigm, raising wages was presumed guilty until proven innocent, yet any evidence that proved innocence was dismissed as an outlier. —Nick Hanauer, The Atlantic, 22 May 2026

But some events are true outliers, so strange as to be almost irreproducible. —Christopher Bonanos, Curbed, 22 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1606, in the meaning defined at sense 3b