outlandish
Americanadjective
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freakishly or grotesquely strange or odd, as appearance, dress, objects, ideas, or practices; bizarre.
outlandish clothes; outlandish questions.
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having a foreign appearance.
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remote from civilized areas; out-of the-way.
an outlandish settlement.
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Archaic. foreign; alien.
adjective
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grotesquely unconventional in appearance, habits, etc
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archaic foreign
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of outlandish
before 1000; Middle English; Old English ūtlendisc. See outland, -ish 1
Explanation
If something is outlandish it's bizarre or unfamiliar, far outside the boundaries of expected or normal behavior. Driving around the city in a golf cart and eating spaghetti with pineapple sauce are both examples of outlandish behavior. It's easy to imagine how the word outlandish originated. The Old English root is utland, which literally means "out-land," or foreign. Now, it would be inappropriate to refer to a foreigner as outlandish, unless, say, he shows up to the office in a red patent-leather Speedo and a ten-gallon hat.
Vocabulary lists containing outlandish
100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know
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Essential Academic Vocabulary for Middle School Students, List 8
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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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.
As Baldacci says in an essay this week, “Arguing about facts doesn’t deter outlandish ideas, misinformation or AI hallucination. Maybe more storytelling, more imagination, more fiction is what’s needed to combat the unreality spun online.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
Even as political campaigns experiment with more outlandish applications of the technology, many have already been using AI in quieter ways, including to compose tailored mailings and participate in digital chat rooms, Romero said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
By contrast, he uses the US as an example of a more individualistic society where outlandish behaviour is more tolerated.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
The suit said Doe has “no evidence to support her outlandish claims.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
He doesn’t know how outlandish I think I’m being.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
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.
