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• out-front
  out-front

  adjective

  candid; frank; honest.
• out front
  out front

  In front of a building or house, as in We really need to put another light out front, or I'll meet you at the museum, out front. The antonym, referring to the back of a building, is out back, as in John's out back fixing his bike. The noun front has been used for the side of a building where the main entrance is located since the mid-1300s; back for the rear of a building dates from the late 1300s.

out-front

American  

[aut-fruhnt] / ˈaʊtˈfrʌnt /

adjective

Informal.

1. candid; frank; honest.

   The politician was less than out-front with the interviewer.

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out front Idioms  

1. In front of a building or house, as in We really need to put another light out front, or I'll meet you at the museum, out front. The antonym, referring to the back of a building, is out back, as in John's out back fixing his bike. The noun front has been used for the side of a building where the main entrance is located since the mid-1300s; back for the rear of a building dates from the late 1300s.

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Etymology

Origin of out-front

An Americanism dating back to 1915–20

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

out-front out front

“I’ve always been an out-front crusader, whether I stand alone or with a thousand.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

“That’s how far out-front it was and how unique,” she said.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 19, 2022

I’ve never been an out-front champion on this issue, but I have always believed that the people of Alabama should have the final say.

From Washington Times ● Feb. 2, 2021

Sanders's most out-front policy staffer for 2020 is Warren Gunnels, who is a senior campaign adviser and was policy director in Sanders’s 2016 campaign.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 16, 2019

The position must neither be commanded, out-fronted, nor surrounded; but on the contrary ought, as far as possible, to command and out-front the enemy's position.

From Elements of Military Art and Science Or, Course Of Instruction In Strategy, Fortification, Tactics Of Battles, &C.; Embracing The Duties Of Staff, Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, And Engineers; Adapted To The Use Of Volunteers And Militia; Third Edition; With Critical Notes On The Mexican And Crimean Wars. by Henry Wager Halleck

I sat out front through the whole dinner service.

From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2026

When the truck wasn’t there, they would draw the heavy metal gate closed and lock it, or else pay a scout to sit out front watching, relaying surveillance intel when needed.

From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2026

Miller is going to take some of those banana pups for her yard, and out front, she’ll plant a pollinator garden.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2026

For years, tourists flocked to a small triangular park out front to snap a selfie with the full structure behind them.

From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026

It was a house, just a house, three stories, brick with leaded-glass windows, and a sloping lawn out front with two garden gnomes at the head of a brick walkway.

From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman

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