statistic
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of statistic
First recorded in 1815–20; back formation from statistics
Explanation
A statistic is a numerical piece of information. If you are trying to prove a point, and you want your argument to have a sense of authority, you might want to use a statistic to back up your claim. A statistic is a single piece of information represented by a number. “Water makes up 70% of the Earth’s surface,” for instance, is a statistic. A statistic is like a fact that is reached through a mathematical process. A population figure is the most common statistic you will encounter. When made plural, statistics means either a collection of statistics or the science of creating and interpreting statistics, as in “His favorite course in college was Statistics.”
Vocabulary lists containing statistic
Argumentative Writing
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Argumentative Writing, List 1
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Tears of a Tiger
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
One revealing statistic from McQuarrie is the number of 50-year periods in U.S. history in which stocks failed to beat bonds.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
Whenever Martinez is asked questions about the five-time Ballon d'Or winner, he has pointed to the same statistic in all his recent interviews - 25 goals in his past 31 games for the Selecao.
From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026
At first blush, his lifetime Wins Above Replacement of 0.3 would indicate that he’s little better than the fictional minor league “replacement player” to which MLB players are compared in calculating the statistic.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026
That statistic comes from the LAHSA, a city-county joint agency that sends trained volunteers into the streets each February to count the people living there.
From Slate ● Jun. 3, 2026
“Scared of becoming a statistic who gets struck by lightning.”
From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera
Now part of the Labor Department, it generates the country’s most important economic statistics, including the inflation and unemployment rates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
The BEA has described the coming changes as routine adjustments necessary to make the statistics as faithful as possible.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
It affects the official final standings, historical records and player statistics.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Official statistics are lacking, but media in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have reported an increasing number of victims.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
Most alarmingly, these statistics indicate that we are currently in the midst of a sixth mass extinction—a mass dying-off of species.
From "Camp Panda" by Catherine Thimmesh
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
