outlier

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/ˈaʊtˌlaɪə(ɹ)/Canada/ˈʌʊtˌlaɪɚ/

noun

A person or thing situated away from the main body or outside its proper place.

Opposite
inlier
Less commonScrabble 7
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Meanings

nounoutlier (plural outliers)

plural outliers · alternative dated outlyer

  1. A person or thing situated away from the main body or outside its proper place.

    Observing as an outlier from Scotland, Hynes sums up the industry problem: "The conversation we've had for this article is really about creating an environment in which better decisions can be taken, isn't it?

    2023 November 1, Paul Clifton, “One account for the UK railway”, in RAIL, number 995, page 47
  2. figurativelyAn exception.

    And in a world where police officers are mostly paired by species (zebras with zebras, hippos with hippos, etc.), Judy and Nick’s rare bunny/fox combo marks them as outliers.

    2025 November 25, Caroline Siede, “Zootopia 2 is a stagnant sequel with one stellar subplot”, in AV Club
  3. geographyA part of a formation separated from the rest of the formation by erosion.
  4. mathematicsA value in a statistical sample which does not fit a pattern that describes most other data points; specifically, a value that lies 1.5 IQR beyond the upper or lower quartile.

Synonyms & antonyms

Opposite
inlier
Also see
abnormalcyabnormalismabnormalityabnormityanomalydeviantexceptionfreakodd fishoddityoutsiderqueernessrumstrange fishunusualityunusualness

Origin

From outlie + -er.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan tossal testimoni, tossal residual
  • tossal testimonipart of formation separate from the rest
  • tossal residualpart of formation separate from the rest
Dutch buitenbeentje, alleenstaande
  • buitenbeentjea person or thing situated away from the main body or outside its proper place
  • alleenstaandea person or thing situated away from the main body or outside its proper place
  • uitloperpart of formation separate from the rest
  • uitbijtervalue outside pattern in a statistical sample
Finnish erillään oleva, ulkopuolinen
  • erillään olevaa person or thing situated away from the main body or outside its proper place
  • ulkopuolinena person or thing situated away from the main body or outside its proper place
  • eroosion erottama osapart of formation separate from the rest
  • poikkeava arvovalue outside pattern in a statistical sample
  • poikkeamavalue outside pattern in a statistical sample
  • poikkeusvalue outside pattern in a statistical sample
  • äärihavaintovalue outside pattern in a statistical sample
French cas isolé, exception
  • cas isoléa person or thing situated away from the main body or outside its proper place
  • exceptiona person or thing situated away from the main body or outside its proper place
  • intrusa person or thing situated away from the main body or outside its proper place
  • lambeau m d'érosionpart of formation separate from the rest
  • butte-témoinpart of formation separate from the rest
  • valeur f anormalevalue outside pattern in a statistical sample
  • donnée aberrantevalue outside pattern in a statistical sample
  • extrêmevalue outside pattern in a statistical sample
German Ausreißer, Sonderfall
  • Ausreißera person or thing situated away from the main body or outside its proper place
  • Sonderfalla person or thing situated away from the main body or outside its proper place
  • Zeugenbergpart of formation separate from the rest
  • Ausreißervalue outside pattern in a statistical sample
Indonesian pencilan
  • pencilanvalue outside pattern in a statistical sample
Italian eccezione, anomalia
  • eccezionea person or thing situated away from the main body or outside its proper place
  • anomaliaa person or thing situated away from the main body or outside its proper place
Lithuanian išskirtis
  • išskirtisvalue outside pattern in a statistical sample
Norwegian Bokmål utligger
  • utliggervalue outside pattern in a statistical sample
Polish ostaniec
  • ostaniecpart of formation separate from the rest
Portuguese extravagante
  • extravagantea person or thing situated away from the main body or outside its proper place
Russian остане́ц, вы́брос
  • остане́ц (ostanéc)part of formation separate from the rest
  • вы́брос (výbros)value outside pattern in a statistical sample
Spanish cerro testigo, anomalía
  • cerro testigopart of formation separate from the rest
  • anomalíavalue outside pattern in a statistical sample
  • irregularidadvalue outside pattern in a statistical sample
  • anormalidadvalue outside pattern in a statistical sample
  • rarezavalue outside pattern in a statistical sample
  • caso apartevalue outside pattern in a statistical sample
  • valor atípicovalue outside pattern in a statistical sample
Swedish utliggare
  • utliggarevalue outside pattern in a statistical sample
Thai ค่าผิดปกติ
  • ค่าผิดปกติvalue outside pattern in a statistical sample

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

uroliteErlitou
Cite this entry
APA

outlier. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/outlier

MLA

“outlier.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/outlier. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “outlier,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/outlier.

Source: outlier on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.