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.
Heughan has his own following – Heuligans – as well as the wider Outlandish following which has boomed on social media since the show began.
From BBC • Jan. 28, 2026
Outlandish chargemaster pricing isn’t just an accounting gimmick.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 6, 2021
Enter the Outlandish Watch, one of the very first temporal gadgets.
From Salon • May 16, 2019
Outlandish as it sounds, something like this was what national security adviser John Bolton had in mind when he suggested the Libya model as a good example for North Korea to follow.
From Washington Times • May 30, 2018
As for the first; Whether ours be as good as Outlandish Flax?
From Proposals for Building, In Every County, A Working-Alms-House or Hospital as the Best Expedient to Perfect the Trade and Manufactory of Linnen Cloth by Haines, Richard
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.
