outsider
Americannoun
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a person not belonging to a particular group, set, party, etc..
Society often regards the artist as an outsider.
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a person unconnected or unacquainted with the matter in question.
Not being a parent, I was regarded as an outsider.
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a racehorse, sports team, or other competitor not considered likely to win or succeed.
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a person or thing not within an enclosure, boundary, etc.
noun
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a person or thing excluded from or not a member of a set, group, etc
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a contestant, esp a horse, thought unlikely to win in a race
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(in the north) a person who does not live in the Arctic regions
Etymology
Origin of outsider
Explanation
An outsider is a stranger — someone who doesn't fit in, or someone who observes a group from afar. An outsider stands outside the group, looking in. If you go through high school without belonging to any particular group — you're not a jock, a nerd, or an artist, for example — you might feel like an outsider. Having a brand new job can also put you in the position of being an outsider, especially if you have no experience in the profession. To an outsider, the way a busy restaurant works might seem chaotic and random, for example. To an insider, on the other hand, it might all make perfect sense.
Vocabulary lists containing outsider
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.
His departure is the latest leadership shakeup after company outsider Meg O'Neill became chief executive in April, with a mission of implementing a recovery plan for the group.
From Barron's • May 26, 2026
“He’s an outsider candidate. He’s a celebrity candidate. He’s very clever, very strategic, and very skilled at social media,” said Republican strategist Kevin Spillane.
From Los Angeles Times • May 21, 2026
What choices Nadia Marcinko had, if any, in the course of her long association with Jeffrey Epstein, it is impossible for an outsider to know.
From BBC • May 19, 2026
This is the Kafka that has been passed to posterity—the outsider, the pariah, the man condemned to a condition of eternal estrangement.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
I could see that they were sizing him up, trying to figure out whether he was some sort of opinionated outsider or in fact had something of value to offer.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
