anomaly

Intermediatezipf 3.47

Pronunciation

/əˈnɒməli/(uh-NOM-uh-lee)

Part of speech

nounformal

Chinese

异常；反常现象；例外

Definition

Something that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected.

Word family

  • anomalous/əˈnɒmələs/(adj)反常的

Collocations

  • statistical anomaly
  • detect anomalies
  • anomalous behavior
  • an anomaly in the data

Examples

  1. 1.The sudden temperature spike was an anomaly in otherwise stable readings. (deviation)
  2. 2.Her success as a self-taught programmer is an anomaly in the industry. (exception)

Synonyms

  • irregularity/ɪˌrɛɡjʊˈlærəti/— departure from normal
  • deviation/ˌdiːviˈeɪʃən/— going off course
  • outlier/ˈaʊtlaɪə/— data point far from others

Etymology

from Greek "anomalos" = uneven — an- (not) + homalos (even) — not normal