outsider

American  

[out-sahy-der] / ˌaʊtˈsaɪ dər /

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.

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outsider British  

/ 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

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Etymology

Origin of outsider

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

Example Sentences

Using that fame, she ran as a Republican in 2021 in California’s gubernatorial recall election, positioning herself as a political outsider.

From Los Angeles Times

When she was starting as a comedian, as an “older woman who was talking about having babies,” Blaine felt like an outsider.

From Los Angeles Times

He went to secondary school in the wealthy bourgeois 16th arrondissement of Paris, where he said he felt an uncomfortable outsider, and later attended the elite ENA administration school.

From BBC

His perspective as faux-naive or actually naive outsider — “I prefer actually naive,” Theroux said when I put it that way — yields a number of unexpected benefits.

From Salon

"I am constantly being treated like an outsider."

From BBC

Related Words

• alien
• foreigner
• interloper
• newcomer
• stranger