outlier

American  

[out-lahy-er] / ˈaʊtˌlaɪ ər /

noun

outliers plural

1. something that lies outside the main body or group that it is a part of, such as a cow far from the rest of the herd, or a distant island belonging to a cluster of islands.

   The small factory was an outlier, and unproductive, so the corporation sold it off to private owners who were able to make it profitable.

2. someone who stands apart from other members of a group, such as by differing behavior, beliefs, or religious practices.

   There are a few scientists who are outliers in their views on climate change.

   Synonyms:

   outsider, heretic, iconoclast, dissenter, dissident, bohemian, eccentric, original, maverick, nonconformist

3. Statistics.

   1. an observation that is well outside of the expected range of values in a study or experiment, and which is often discarded from the data set.

      Experience with a variety of data-reduction problems has led to several strategies for dealing with outliers in data sets.

   2. a person whose abilities, achievements, etc., lie outside the range of statistical probability.

4. Geology. a part of a formation left detached through the removal of surrounding parts by erosion.

5. Obsolete. a person residing outside the place of their business, duty, etc.

---

outlier British  

/ ˈaʊtˌlaɪə /

noun

1. an outcrop of rocks that is entirely surrounded by older rocks

2. a person, thing, or part situated away from a main or related body

3. a person who lives away from his place of work, duty, etc

4. statistics a point in a sample widely separated from the main cluster of points in the sample See scatter diagram

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• outliers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of outlier

First recorded in 1600–10; out- + lier

Explanation

In statistics an outlier is a piece of data that is far from the rest; think of a graph with dots, where most dots are clustered together in the middle, but one dot, the outlier, is at the top. Think of an outlier as an outsider. An outlier refers to anything that strays from, or isn’t part of, the norm. If you like to sleep in a tent in the backyard while your neighbors and family sleep in their beds, you’re probably an outlier. You may also be an outlier if you have to travel far to your job. In geology, rock that is separated from another rock formation is called an outlier.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

outlier outliers

It may seem like a weird career shift for Witkoff, but he’s such an outlier that the famously transactional Donald Trump treats him like an actual friend.

From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026

The way they are dealing with these calls is attracting attention from around the globe - I wanted to find out how it's going, and if Wales is an outlier or an innovator?

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026

The debate comes as UC increasingly stands as a national outlier in its refusal to consider SAT and ACT scores.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026

Justice Brett Kavanaugh was the outlier in the decision, agreeing with the court’s judgment but disagreeing with its justification.

From Salon ● Jul. 2, 2026

Terman didn’t understand what a real outlier was, and that’s a mistake we continue to make to this day.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

But if those age-defying performances were outliers, playing into your mid-40s and even early 50s may soon become, if not common, at least less unusual.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026

Bloom says he has used a variety of approaches including accounting for distance, economic gravity, the size of the economy and selectively omitting potential outliers.

From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026

“Barring a miracle, the 2020s will prove to be what their ominous opening foreshadowed: a lost decade-not just for a couple of outliers, but for dozens of developing economies,” Gill said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026

Warsh has said he prefers alternative inflation measures like trimmed mean and median PCE, which strip out outliers and tend to run cooler than the headline figures.

From Barron's ● May 14, 2026

This is a book about outliers, about men and women who do things that are out of the ordinary.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

Related Words

• aberration
• deviation
• eccentricity
• exception
• oddity