outback

American  

[out-bak, out-bak] / ˈaʊtˌbæk, ˈaʊtˈbæk /

noun

outbacks plural

1. (sometimes initial capital letter) Usually the outback the back country or remote settlements; the bush.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or located in the back country.

   outback settlements.

adverb

1. in or to the back country.

   They moved outback many years ago.

outback British  

/ ˈaʊtˌbæk /

noun

1. 1. the remote bush country of Australia

   2. ( as modifier )

      outback life

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• outbacks
  plural

Etymology

Origin of outback

First recorded in 1875–80; out + back ²

Explanation

In Australia, the outback is the remote, rural region where far more animals than humans live. If you travel to the outback, you may see kangaroos, dingoes, and emus. Some people think of the outback as a vast, dusty, red desert, but it actually contains many different ecosystems, including savannahs, mountain ranges, and woodlands. Although it makes up the majority of Australia's land mass (about 80 percent), the outback is sparsely populated. Indigenous Australians have lived in this part of the country for at least 50,000 years. Outback was coined in the late 19th century from the phrase "out in the back country."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

outback outbacks

Camels with "a bit of fire in them" raced in a remote Australian outback town this weekend at an annual event celebrating the desert beasts first imported in the mid-19th century.

From Barron's ● Jun. 28, 2026

A woman who was taking a toilet break while on a road trip in the Australian outback ended up getting stuck waist-deep in a pit latrine after it collapsed.

From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2026

It forms rust on land when exposed to oxygen, as seen in Australia's red outback landscapes, which preserve features ranging from millions to billions of years old.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 23, 2026

As I step out into this next phase of life, I do sometimes find myself missing the chaos of Hanoi or the wide-open spaces of the Australian outback.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 22, 2026

At the end of the war, life returned to normal, and Shackleton began a world tour, speaking to audiences in big cities and outback villages about Endurance’s doomed voyage.

From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong

He’s read the great classics as well — Chaucer, for example — and is amused that people living in rural outbacks didn’t spend their college years in Middle English seminars.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 2, 2015

Several trouble spots remain, but hundreds of families are returning to their lands in seven newly declared zones of "total pacification" in the outbacks.

From Time Magazine Archive

Related Words

• wilderness