Anomaly: meaning, example and synonyms
Anomalyn. Something that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected.
Example
The astronomers first dismissed the faint signal as a glitch, but when it recurred nightly, they recognized it as a genuine anomaly demanding explanation.
- Part of speech
- noun
- Synonyms
- irregularity, aberration, oddity, deviation
- Antonyms
- norm, regularity, standard, rule
- Memory tip
- a- (not) + nomalos (even): it doesn't follow the usual pattern.
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Check yourself: Anomaly in context
The researchers suspected equipment failure when one patient's blood test showed enzyme levels ten times higher than the others, but repeated trials confirmed that the ______ was real.
Answer: anomaly. One result far outside the others is a deviation from the norm: an anomaly. Synthesis (combining parts into a whole), obstinacy (stubbornness) and complacency (smug self-satisfaction) don't fit.
In a region where nearly every town had voted the same way for a century, the district's sudden reversal became the ______ that political scientists most wanted to explain.
Answer: anomaly. A sudden break from a century-long pattern is an anomaly. Terseness (curt brevity), attrition (gradual wearing down) and complacency (smug self-satisfaction) don't fit.