outlier

noun

out·​li·​er ˈau̇t-ˌlī(-ə)r How to pronounce outlier (audio)
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 And even while that month’s data was seen as an outlier, February still posted a more moderate 0.5 percent increase. Rachel Siegel, Washington Post, 19 Mar. 2024 Turning the Page In ending the negative rate, which was imposed in 2016, Ueda turned the page on the BOJ’s experimental monetary easing program after years in which Japan’s central bank was a global outlier. Toru Fujioka, Fortune Asia, 19 Mar. 2024 Murphy, the outlier in the race, was endorsed by the Democratic Party of Sacramento County, the California Democratic Renters Council, the Latino Democratic Club, and the Folsom Area Democratic Club, among others. Ariane Lange, Sacramento Bee, 6 Mar. 2024 Zinc, silver, lead, tin, and indium high grade outliers were constrained during interpolation on a per domain basis. Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 28 Feb. 2024 Any outlier in the data set, like excessive fees or agency costs compared with the company’s benchmark, can be systematically identified for a follow-up discussion. Bruno Gralpois, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2024 None of these signs are foolproof, and the occasional outlier armed with charming lies and fake empathy might still fool you. Jenna Ryu, SELF, 23 Feb. 2024 In December, response times for Priority 1 calls dropped by more than two minutes compared to the same month in 2022. September was the outlier in emergency response times, with the average coming in at 5 minutes, 6 seconds. John Aguilar, The Mercury News, 22 Feb. 2024 The median balance, which ignores outliers, was a more modest $65,300. Daniel De Visé, USA TODAY, 21 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'outlier.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1606, in the meaning defined at sense 3b

Time Traveler
The first known use of outlier was in 1606

Dictionary Entries Near outlier

Cite this Entry

“Outlier.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/outlier. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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