WordGarden.iooutlier
A1Pronunciation
UK
- /ˈaʊtlˌaɪə/
US
- /ˈaʊtlaɪər/
Meanings
Noun
a person or thing that differs markedly from others in a group
a data point or case far from the rest of a statistical distribution
Beyond the definition
Imagine you're measuring the heights of everyone in your class. Most students are close in height, but then there's one student who is much taller than everyone else. That student is an outlier — something that is clearly far from the rest. It does not always mean something is wrong; it just stands out. In statistics, it is a data point that is very different from the general pattern. Think of it like finding a purple sheep in a flock of white ones: it is unusual, easy to notice, and worth a closer look.
An outlier is something that sits far outside the usual pattern. The word is most often used in statistics, where it refers to a data point that is much higher or lower than the rest of the data. For example, if most test scores are close to the average and one score is extremely high or extremely low, that score may be an outlier.
But outlier is not limited to numbers. It can also describe a person, thing, or case that is unusually different from others in the same group. A small town surrounded by huge cities could be seen as an outlier. An artist whose style is very different from that of others in the same period might also be called an outlier. Sometimes an outlier is the result of an error, such as a typo in a dataset. Other times, it is real and important, pointing to something rare or surprising.
In business, finding outliers can help people spot unusual customer behavior or possible fraud. In science, they may lead researchers to study something new more closely. The main idea is simple: an outlier stands apart from what is expected, and that makes people ask why. Sometimes it can be ignored, but sometimes it leads to an important insight.
Examples
- 1
Visual difference
One house on the street is an outlier: it is painted bright pink.
- 2
Survey data
In the survey results, the answer "100 hours a week" looked like an outlier.
- 3
Data analysis
The analyst removed the outliers before calculating the average.
- Phraseremove the outliers
leave unusual results out of the calculation
- 4
Work habits
She is an outlier among her coworkers because she prefers to work nights.
More examplesFewer examples
- 5
Price comparison
That restaurant is an outlier in terms of price; most places nearby are much cheaper.
- Patternin terms of + category
when comparing that category
- 6
Business trend
Last quarter was an outlier for the company, so managers looked at the longer trend.
See also
Forms and spellings
1 form open this card.
Main spelling
- outliernoun