outer

[ou-ter]

adjective

1. situated on or toward the outside; external; exterior.

   outer garments; an outer wall.

2. situated farther out or farther from the center.

   the outer reaches of space.

3. of or relating to the external world.

outer

/ ˈaʊtə /

adjective

1. being or located on the outside; external

2. further from the middle or central part

noun

1. archery

   1. the white outermost ring on a target

   2. a shot that hits this ring

2. the unsheltered part of the spectator area at a sports ground

3. informal,  excluded or neglected

Other Word Forms

• outerness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of outer¹

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; out, -er ⁴

Example Sentences

The phenomenon is like a rock dropped into a pond, where the resulting ripples spread outward -- only here, the "ripples" are made of stars, stretching across the galaxy's outer regions.

Read more on Science Daily

The sticks are soft and gelatinous with a slight crisp from their outer layers — simply put, a textural masterpiece.

Read more on Salon

They resemble a chain-link fence that's been folded over and rolled up into a tube with a connected inner and outer layer.

Read more on Science Daily

By mid-session, it was trading at 1,485 to the dollar -- just three cents shy of the outer limit of the floating exchange rate band announced by the government.

Read more on Barron's

But with the median Manhattan apartment rental costing more than $4,600 a month, and Mamdani finding his strongest supporters in the outer boroughs, the haves and have-nots are, quite literally, further apart than ever.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• exterior 
• outlying