outsider
Americannoun
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outsiders
plural
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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
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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
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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.
See Examples For:
Jackson entered the race in February and presented himself as a political outsider who had grown up in Georgia's foster care system.
From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026
While he was in power, after being named following the mysterious assassination of his father Laurent in 2001, he was often seen as something of an outsider in Kinshasa.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
Like the railroads, like the oil business, the Silicon Valley creators and innovators began as hoodie-wearing outsider heroes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
In a bid to shake things, Kering last year appointed an industry outsider as group chief executive, bringing on Luca de Meo, a former boss of car maker Renault.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
He was a shamanic outsider who was born to a virgin girl in a village far to the north.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
To outsiders, this can be surprising because he is charm personified with the media, a delight to deal with.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
They had been fighting to keep the workings of AI systems visible—and to let outsiders look.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
To wean themselves off this habit, they should practice talking shop with outsiders.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026
Beyond its sound, the genre created worlds: digital networks where outsiders across the Americas and Europe found each other, and parties where queer, trans and friki Latines could show up exactly as they were.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
Baba and Ma, though, always use Bangla at home, and speak English only with outsiders.
From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
