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

Alcaraz is the outlier by a mile, against his nearest rivals but also the tour average, which is 8.5 percent. —Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 15 May 2025

Eight Sleep is the outlier that's accomplished what it's set out to do. —Anthony Karcz, Forbes.com, 14 May 2025

Fuerza is an outlier in many regards: a homegrown group, from California, who came up the charts doing contemporary regional Mexican music — lots of corridos, banda, that sort of music, but with an urban aesthetic and look. —Griselda Flores, Billboard, 13 May 2025

While Katie and Eva turn toward more conventional career paths, Sally, who displays an artistic temperament early on, persists in pursuing a career in art — an outlier in a family of ambitious careerists. —Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1606, in the meaning defined at sense 3b