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out-group

American  
[out-groop] / ˈaʊtˌgrup /

noun

Sociology.
  1. people outside one's own group, especially as considered to be inferior or alien; a group perceived as other than one's own.


out-group British  

noun

  1. sociol persons excluded from an in-group

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of out-group

First recorded in 1905–10; out- + group

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

So if you decide to exclude someone from a paradigm, you have to change the rules and you have to define who is in the in-group and who is in the out-group.

From Slate Mar. 3, 2025

There is always an in-group and an out-group.

From Scientific American Sep. 28, 2023

As a result, tribalistic tendencies both reinforce allegiances among in-group members and increase animosity toward out-group members.

From Textbooks Jun. 15, 2022

Cobbs: An opponent or an out-group that poses an acute threat to your in-group.

From Los Angeles Times Mar. 13, 2022

He describes the transition from contacts of the out-group to those of the in-group, or from remote to intimate relations.

From Introduction to the Science of Sociology by Robert Ezra Park

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