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

But Minnesota is an outlier here, and as was the case with those stubborn Sunday blue laws, sports gambling will eventually win out in Minnesota. —John Shipley, Twin Cities, 25 Oct. 2025

Similarly, if an existing account that typically bets $50 on certain games suddenly places a $1,000 bet, that outlier behavior could trigger an investigation. —Dian Zhang, USA Today, 24 Oct. 2025

Sticking with the traditional ‘Big Six’, Chelsea have been consistent with their chance creation, with the 5-1 win against West Ham (seven big chances created, five scored) being the outlier. —Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2025

While an outlier in age among the other candidates, Roper does meet the criteria required to run for governor in Wisconsin. —Anna Kleiber, jsonline.com, 23 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1606, in the meaning defined at sense 3b