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
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
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:
His outsider credentials are cosmetic, for a start.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
One factor fuelling outsider interest in Bozeman, according to many, was the "Yellowstone Effect" – transplants drawn to the state by the fictitious runaway hit drama Yellowstone, starring Kevin Costner.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
But this is a viable media enterprise that I’m really interested in for the sake of comedy and the opportunity for outsider or fringe comedy.
From Slate ● Jul. 12, 2026
An oyster farmer and Marine veteran, Platner had entered the race to challenge Republican Sen. Susan Collins as an outsider and was seen as riding an anti-establishment wave of support.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
He was strangely suited to the tussle of lawmaking, calm inside the maelstrom, accustomed to being an outsider, taking defeats in his easy Hawaiian stride.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Bringing in credible outsiders to gather input and report back, he said, is how you build support for change in any organization: “I think he’s spot on.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
If it wasn't for the atas' work-worn faces, it is often hard for outsiders to work out who is who.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
What outsiders now call resilience was, for us, simply the nightly practice of keeping one another going.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
The show depicts the power struggles between patriarch John Dutton III, his children, the locals, and the outsiders seeking to change their bucolic ranching way of life.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
They wanted no outsiders in their home at this time.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
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.
