outsider

[out-sahy-der]

noun

1. a person not belonging to a particular group, set, party, etc..

   Society often regards the artist as an outsider.

2. a person unconnected or unacquainted with the matter in question.

   Not being a parent, I was regarded as an outsider.

3. a racehorse, sports team, or other competitor not considered likely to win or succeed.

4. a person or thing not within an enclosure, boundary, etc.

outsider

/ ˌaʊtˈsaɪdə /

noun

1. a person or thing excluded from or not a member of a set, group, etc

2. a contestant, esp a horse, thought unlikely to win in a race

3. (in the north) a person who does not live in the Arctic regions

Word History and Origins

Origin of outsider¹

First recorded in 1790–1800; outside + -er ¹

Example Sentences

“It was the first time where I felt like an outsider,” Kurata says, as she had only previously attended predominantly Asian schools.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

But interstellar comets are true outsiders, carrying clues about the formation of worlds far beyond our own.

Read more on Science Daily

Ms. Keaton’s Kay, an outsider to the Corleone family, carries the burden of being the films’ sole moral voice, the only one who rejects the Mafia’s twisted and bloody codes.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Hernandez’s Bastian is a formidable presence, angry, strict and domineering — the qualities he’s needed to navigate a bureaucratic system that has little concern for the feelings of immigrant outsiders.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

But their more intimate songs portray her as an habitual outsider who doubts her own abilities and motivations.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• alien 
• foreigner 
• interloper 
• newcomer 
• stranger