outback
Americannoun
adjective
adverb
noun
Etymology
Origin of outback
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."
Vocabulary lists containing outback
Australia and New Zealand - Introductory
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Australia and New Zealand - Middle School and High School
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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.
The discovery began when Aaron Bean, a professional horticulturalist who was helping band birds on a large outback property in Queensland, noticed an unusual plant growing in the landscape.
From Science Daily • May 18, 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
Police say they launched the largest search in the history of South Australia when four-year-old Gus Lamont was reported missing in late September from his family's Oak Park Station in the outback north of Adelaide.
From Barron's • Feb. 7, 2026
But not only was it too cold for most life, it was also too dry, with an annual rain and snowfall of only two inches per year—the same as that of the Australian outback.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
