Dictionary

outlier en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈaʊtˌlaɪə(ɹ)/
• (US) audio
• /ˈʌʊtˌlaɪɚ/ (Canada)

Etymology

Etymology tree English outlie Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English outlier From outlie + -er.

Meanings

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. (figuratively) An 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. A part of a formation separated from the rest of the formation by erosion.
4. A 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.

Forms

Antonyms

inlier

Deriveds

nonoutlier · outlierness

Translations (45)

id pencilan (value outside pattern in a statistical sample) · pt extravagante (a person or thing situated away from the main body or outside its proper place) · es cerro testigo (part of formation separate from the rest) · fr exception (a person or thing situated away from the main body or outside its proper place) · fr donnée aberrante (value outside pattern in a statistical sample) · ru вы́брос (value outside pattern in a statistical sample) · fi erillään oleva (a person or thing situated away from the main body or outside its proper place) · pl ostaniec (part of formation separate from the rest) · de Ausreißer (value outside pattern in a statistical sample) · fr extrême (value outside pattern in a statistical sample) · es valor atípico (value outside pattern in a statistical sample) · es anomalía (value outside pattern in a statistical sample) · nl buitenbeentje (a person or thing situated away from the main body or outside its proper place) · nl alleenstaande (a person or thing situated away from the main body or outside its proper place) · fi äärihavainto (value outside pattern in a statistical sample) · nl uitloper (part of formation separate from the rest) · it eccezione (a person or thing situated away from the main body or outside its proper place) · es irregularidad (value outside pattern in a statistical sample) · fr cas isolé (a person or thing situated away from the main body or outside its proper place) · it anomalia (a person or thing situated away from the main body or outside its proper place) · de Sonderfall (a person or thing situated away from the main body or outside its proper place) · ca tossal residual (part of formation separate from the rest) · th ค่าผิดปกติ (value outside pattern in a statistical sample) · fi ulkopuolinen (a person or thing situated away from the main body or outside its proper place) · nn utliggar (value outside pattern in a statistical sample) · de Ausreißer (a person or thing situated away from the main body or outside its proper place) · fi poikkeama (value outside pattern in a statistical sample) · fr butte-témoin (part of formation separate from the rest) · de Zeugenberg (part of formation separate from the rest) · sv utliggare (value outside pattern in a statistical sample) · lt išskirtis (value outside pattern in a statistical sample) · nn utliggjar (value outside pattern in a statistical sample) · es anormalidad (value outside pattern in a statistical sample) · fi poikkeus (value outside pattern in a statistical sample) · fr lambeau m d'érosion (part of formation separate from the rest) · az qalıq (part of formation separate from the rest) · ca tossal testimoni (part of formation separate from the rest) · es rareza (value outside pattern in a statistical sample) · fi poikkeava arvo (value outside pattern in a statistical sample) · ru остане́ц (part of formation separate from the rest) · no utligger (value outside pattern in a statistical sample) · nl uitbijter (value outside pattern in a statistical sample) · fr valeur f anormale (value outside pattern in a statistical sample) · es caso aparte (value outside pattern in a statistical sample) · fi eroosion erottama osa (part of formation separate from the rest)