NYT Dictionary

ANOMALY

/əˈnɑ.mə.li/
Nounanom-ALYanom-aly · 2 syllablesGrade 7

Accepted in official NYT Spelling Bee puzzle years: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021

Meaning

A deviation from a rule or from what is regarded as normal; an outlier.

Etymology

Origin: Latin

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Hellenic *ə- Ancient Greek ᾰ̓- (ă-) Proto-Indo-European *sem- Proto-Indo-European *sem-h₂-lo-sder. Ancient Greek ὁμᾰλός (homălós) Ancient Greek ἀνώμαλος (anṓmalos) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ία (-ía) Ancient Greek ἀνωμαλία (anōmalía)bor. Latin anōmalialbor. English anomaly From Latin anomalia, from Ancient Greek ἀνωμαλία (anōmalía, “irregularity, anomaly”), from ἀνώμαλος (anṓmalos, “irregular, uneven”), negating the meaning of ὁμαλός (homalós, “even”), from ὁμός (homós, “same”).

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

abnormalitydeviancedeviationexceptioninconsistencyirregularityphenomenonaberrantanomalydeviant

NYT Puzzle Appearances

No published puzzle dates on file for this word yet. It is part of the official NYT Spelling Bee word list for 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021.

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