anomaly

Language: en

🇬🇧 /əˈnɒməli/ 🇺🇸 /əˈnɑməliː/

📖 Definitions

  1. noun
    Something that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected; an irregularity or abnormality.; In astronomy, the angular distance of a planet or satellite from its last perihelion or perigee.; An inconsistency or contradiction in a system, theory, or set of rules.

🔗 Details

Word forms

countable Plural: anomalies

Collocations

statistical anomalydetect an anomalyan anomaly in the datagravitational anomalytemperature anomaly

Derivatives

anomalousanomalouslyanomalistic

Synonyms

irregularityabnormalitydeviationodditypeculiarityexception

Antonyms

normalityregularity

Commonly confused

abnormality
EN: 'Abnormality' often implies something medically or biologically wrong, while 'anomaly' is a more neutral term for any deviation from what is expected or standard.
anomaly vs. anomaly
EN: The adjective is 'anomalous' (not 'anomalious' or 'anomal'), a common error for learners.

Spelling tips

EN: The plural is 'anomalies' (change 'y' to 'ies'). The adjective form is 'anomalous'—not 'anomalious' or 'anomal'—which is a frequent mistake.

💬 Examples

  1. The sudden spike in temperature was an anomaly in the otherwise consistent data.

  2. The astronomer calculated the true anomaly of the comet's orbit.

  3. The anomaly in the legal code allowed criminals to exploit a loophole.