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
Jess Cartner-MorleyAmong 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
Christopher IngrahamExamples of outlier in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
This prevents you from being swayed by flashy outliers.
—Robert B. Tucker, Forbes.com, 23 Apr. 2025
Many Andor fans weren’t happy to learn that Disney+ intended to release the show’s second and final season in weekly three-episode chunks, as if the streamer were eager to be done with this outlier entry in the Star Wars franchise as quickly as possible.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 23 Apr. 2025
And the outlier was … Back in 2020, when Dave Matthews Band — with a truly staggering figure of over one million votes — lost out to a group of other performers.
—Devon Ivie, Vulture, 22 Apr. 2025
Using a more holistic metric than simply scoring, however, this year’s rookie class appears to be weak, but not a historical outlier.
—Lev Akabas, Sportico.com, 16 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for outlier
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Robert B. Tucker, Forbes.com, 23 Apr. 2025
Many Andor fans weren’t happy to learn that Disney+ intended to release the show’s second and final season in weekly three-episode chunks, as if the streamer were eager to be done with this outlier entry in the Star Wars franchise as quickly as possible.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 23 Apr. 2025
And the outlier was … Back in 2020, when Dave Matthews Band — with a truly staggering figure of over one million votes — lost out to a group of other performers.
—Devon Ivie, Vulture, 22 Apr. 2025
Using a more holistic metric than simply scoring, however, this year’s rookie class appears to be weak, but not a historical outlier.
—Lev Akabas, Sportico.com, 16 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for outlier
Cite this Entry
“Outlier.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/outlier. Accessed 2 May. 2025.
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