What does anomaly mean?
Word: Anomaly
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Anomaly means something that does not fit the usual pattern and seems strange for that reason.
Synonyms: oddity
Word origin: Through Latin from Greek anomalos.
How do you spell anomaly?
Syllables: a - nom - a - ly
Tricky part: The vowel after the m is the problem. It is said so weakly that students guess and write an o there.
Watch out for: anomoly, anomely
Memory tip: Normal can help here: in normal and in anomaly the m is followed by an a, even though an anomaly is anything but normal.
Anomaly in a sentence
Example 1: One cold morning in June was an anomaly in an otherwise hot summer.
Example 2: The accountant looked again at the bill because one figure was an anomaly.
Example 3: A vegetarian in a family of fish lovers, Rohan calls himself the household anomaly.
Fun Fact
Astronomers found Neptune in 1846 after noticing an anomaly in the orbit of Uranus: something unseen seemed to be tugging at it.
Practise the CREST Way
Back to the Roots
Choose the correct option:
Anomaly comes from the Greek word anomalos, which means ___.
a) unfinished
b) unseen
c) unknown
d) uneven
Show answer
d) uneven. The Greek word described something not level, and the sense of breaking a pattern grew from there.
Spell Probe
One word in the sentence is misspelt. Choose the meaning of that word:
The thermometer gave one annomaly on Tuesday, so the lab assistant circled the figure in her notebook and told the teacher.
a) a result that stands out as odd against all the others
b) a book of blank pages for writing things in
c) a person whose job is to help in a laboratory
d) an instrument used for measuring how hot something is
Show answer
a) a result that stands out as odd against all the others. The n is not doubled in this word, which names the odd reading.
Jumble Tumble
Choose the correct sequence of the jumbled letters to form a meaningful word:
nymolaa 1234567
a) 1643752
b) 6143752
c) 2574316
d) 6134752
Show answer
b) 6143752. This order gives the word for something out of line with the rest.
Word Tally
How many words are misspelt in the given sentence?
The weather station called the snowfall in the desert an anomaly, and reporters rushed to photagraph the rare sceen.
a) 1
b) 2
c) 0
d) 3
Show answer
b) 2. Photograph has an o in the middle and scene begins sc and ends ne.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A student spots an anomaly in her results. What is the sensible next step?
a) write up her conclusion
b) move on to the next topic
c) repeat the test to check it
d) draw the final graph
Show answer
c) repeat the test to check it
2. In a row of ten identical houses, which feature stands out as an anomaly?
a) one house painted bright purple
b) a door at the front of each house
c) a letterbox at every single gate
d) a neat roof on top of every house
Show answer
a) one house painted bright purple
