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• out-of-sight
  out-of-sight

  adjective

  fantastic; great; marvelous.
• out of sight
  out of sight

  Also, out of someone's sight . Out of the range of vision, as in Stay out of sight while they're visiting , or Don't let the baby out of your sight in the yard . [c. 1200] This idiom is also used in the phrase get out of someone's sight , meaning “go away”; for example, Jean was furious with Bill and told him to get out of her sight at once .

out-of-sight

American  

[out-uhv-sahyt] / ˈaʊt əvˈsaɪt /

adjective

1. Slang. fantastic; great; marvelous.

   an out-of-sight guitarist.

2. beyond reason; exceedingly high.

   out-of-sight hospital bills.

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out of sight Idioms  

1. Also, out of someone's sight . Out of the range of vision, as in Stay out of sight while they're visiting , or Don't let the baby out of your sight in the yard . [c. 1200] This idiom is also used in the phrase get out of someone's sight , meaning “go away”; for example, Jean was furious with Bill and told him to get out of her sight at once .

2. Unreasonable, excessive, as in Our bill for the wine was out of sight . [ Colloquial ; late 1800s]

3. Excellent, superb, as in The graduation party was out of sight . This phrase is also used as an interjection meaning “Wonderful!” as in Do I like it? Out of sight! [ Slang ; second half of 1900s]

4. out of sight , out of mind . What is absent is soon forgotten, as in I don't think of them unless they send a Christmas card—out of sight, out of mind, I guess . This phrase has been proverbial since Homer's time; the earliest recorded use in English was about 1450.

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Etymology

Origin of out-of-sight

An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

out-of-sight out of sight

He said California is on the cusp of more dedicated efforts to replenish water reserves that have long been largely out-of-sight, out-of-mind.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2024

Under the proposed new rules, out-of-sight flights would be allowed at low altitude in areas where other aircraft would not be expected to operate.

From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2024

I soon learned from another staff member that when a person’s travel location is input into the system, it’s enclosed by an out-of-sight geofence.

From Slate ● Dec. 13, 2023

Throughout, he maintains his remarkable stillness, save his out-of-sight hands Geppetto-ing the dummy’s mouth.

From New York Times ● Dec. 27, 2022

And who could possibly be paying those out-of-sight prices?

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times

And in the culminating piece that gives the collection its title, she writes of the catastrophic betrayal that floats out of sight in the later writings of Alice Munro.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

For years, almost any open space far enough out of sight looked like a why-not dumping ground.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026

The sharks seem to persist in the region while largely remaining out of sight, making them difficult to study and monitor.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 26, 2026

Smith, for his part, is dubious about the veracity of the ransom notes - and believes Guthrie was ferreted down to Mexico where she could more easily be kept out of sight.

From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026

I move closer to the window, keeping out of sight behind the curtain.

From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler