Definition
A statistic is one number distilled from many — an average, a percentage, a count — that stands in for a whole mass of measurements. The word shares its root with 'state', since such figures were first gathered to describe nations: their populations, harvests, and taxes. A single statistic can clarify or mislead, which is why careful readers ask how it was collected before they let it settle an argument. The plural, statistics, also names the entire discipline of analysing such data.
Examples
- A well-chosen statistic can reveal a discrepancy that pages of description would hide.
- Researchers used the figure to infer a broader trend across the whole population.
- One striking statistic — that traffic had doubled in a decade — anchored her entire essay.
Collocations
a key statistic·official statistics·a damning statistic·according to the statistics·statistical evidence
Synonyms
figure·number·datum·measure·metric
Antonyms
anecdote·conjecture
Word family
statistics (noun)·statistical (adjective)·statistically (adverb)·statistician (noun)
In TOEFL & IELTS
Invaluable for evidence-based Writing: 'according to recent statistics', 'official statistics show' lend authority to Task 2 arguments. Watch the grammar — one statistic (countable singular), but statistics is also an uncountable field of study ('statistics is taught here'). In TOEFL lectures, a single statistic often signals the speaker's key point, so it is worth noting when one is read aloud.