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 the family is Paasch’s older brother, Brandon, who plays tennis at North Central College. —Steve Reaven, Chicago Tribune, 5 Jan. 2026

This suggests that mathematical control could theoretically force resistant or inactive cells to behave like the rest of the population, eliminating the outliers that often undermine treatments. —Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 2 Jan. 2026

Three of those have been in their last four games, with the only outlier in that stretch a 24-point victory over now 8-25 Sacramento. —Jim Alexander, Oc Register, 31 Dec. 2025

One of the current fall season’s unqualified musical successes is Ragtime, and Christmas Week was no outlier. —Greg Evans, Deadline, 30 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1606, in the meaning defined at sense 3b