regression toward the mean
noun
Simple meaning
The phenomenon by which extreme examples from any set of data are likely to be followed by examples which are less extreme.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ruhgrehshuhntuhwawrdthuhmeenSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɹəɡˈɹɛʃəntəˈwɔɹdðəˈmin
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The phenomenon by which extreme examples from any set of data are likely to be followed by examples which are less extreme; a tendency towards the average of any sample. For example, the offspring of two very tall individuals tend to be tall, but closer to the average (mean) than either of their parents.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The phenomenon by which extreme examples from any set of data are likely to be followed by examples which are less extreme; a tendency towards the average of any sample. For example, the offspring of two very tall individuals tend to be tall, but closer to the average (mean) than either of their parents.
Used this way, regression toward the mean is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.