abnormal
part of speech
adjective (abnormal, more abnormal, most abnormal); adverb form: abnormally
meaning for a pupil
1) Not normal or not usual, different from what is expected, often in a way that is worrying. tree →
2) (science, medicine) Outside the healthy or typical range, like an abnormal heartbeat or an abnormal test result. tree →
sense in the lessons
Used in science and health to say something does not fit the usual pattern: abnormal weather, abnormal growth, abnormal results. In stories it warns the reader that something is wrong or strange. In maths and data it can describe a value far from the rest (an outlier). Phrases: abnormal behaviour, abnormally high, abnormally cold, nothing abnormal.
examples
- It was abnormal for the dog to be so quiet. tree →
- The doctor said the X-ray showed nothing abnormal. tree →
- We had abnormally warm weather for winter. tree →
- An abnormal heartbeat can be a sign of illness. tree →
- One abnormal reading was much bigger than all the others. tree →
- The plant had abnormal yellow spots on its leaves. tree →
- Mum thought the noise from the car was abnormal and took it to the garage. tree →
note
Opposite: normal. The noun is abnormality (abnormalities). Stronger and more serious than unusual; it often hints at a problem. Do not confuse with "subnormal" (below normal) or "paranormal" (ghostly). In data, an abnormal value may need checking before you find an average.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «abnormal» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.