outlier

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈaʊtˌlaɪɚ/ UK /ˈaʊtˌlaɪə/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a person or value markedly different from the rest of a group

That data point is an outlier and skews the average.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person or value markedly... anomaly exception deviation aberration irregularity nonconformist

Opposites

norm average typical

Word family

Related forms outlielie outlying

Etymology

From out- plus lier ('one who or that which lies'), agent noun of lie ('to be situated'). Originally of something lying outside its usual place; the statistical sense is later.

ūt Old English licgan Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# outlier

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈaʊtˌlaɪɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈaʊtˌlaɪə/

## Meanings
1. a person or value markedly different from the rest of a group

## Examples
- That data point is an outlier and skews the average.

## Synonyms
- anomaly
- exception
- deviation
- aberration
- irregularity
- nonconformist

## Antonyms
- norm
- average
- typical

## Related Forms
- outlie
- lie
- outlying

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: ūt
- Root: licgan

## Etymology
From out- plus lier ('one who or that which lies'), agent noun of lie ('to be situated'). Originally of something lying outside its usual place; the statistical sense is later.

## AI Etymology
Outlier comes from out- plus lier ('one who or that which lies'), agent noun of lie ('to be situated'). Originally of something lying outside its usual place; the statistical sense is later. The historical trail runs through Old English ūt and Old English licgan. Morphologically, the surface form is analyzable into prefixes, suffixes, compounds, or participial endings that carry part of the history. The later sense follows a semantic development already present in the word's history. In modern use it means a person or value markedly different from the rest of a group. Related forms include outlie, lie, outlying.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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