outlier

An outlier is something that's very different from what's normal or expected. A student might get an incredibly high score on a test and be considered an outlier.

When we talk about outliers, it usually means that they don't fit into the usual pattern or group. For example, let's say you're analyzing how long people take to finish a certain task. Most people take between 20-30 minutes to do it, but one person takes only 5 minutes – that's an outlier! They've done something way differently from everyone else. In statistics and research, outliers can be interesting because they might show us something new or unusual about how things work. But in everyday language, we often just use the word to describe someone or something that stands out in a big way.