Sense file
How the sense moved
The archive follows the dated record first, then reads the social or rhetorical pressure that hardened, softened, narrowed, or reversed the word.
Older meaning
Distinguished, standing out from the flock.
Modern meaning
Shockingly bad.
Research lens
Good for showing how standing out can move from praise to condemnation.
Meaning trail
Root
outside the flock
Difference first meant distinction.
Older sense
remarkably good
A marked exception could be praise.
Now
remarkably bad
The marked exception became scandal instead.