outlandish
adjective
Joan E. RigdonGeog. Jour.
Did you know?
For some, the grass isn’t necessarily greener on the other side of the fence—it may also be very, very strange. The side-eye that skeptical sorts cast toward visitors from parts yonder is embedded in the history of the ancient word outlandish. In Old English someone described as “outlandish” came from an outland, i.e., a foreign land. Within a few hundred years, outlandish had broadened in use to describe anything unfamiliar or strange. It’s now commonly applied to things—especially things people do, wear, or say—that are strikingly out of the ordinary, or even just too-too—that is, too far beyond reasonable or proper limits or standards. But lest you mistake us for equating outlandish with wrong or bad, heed the words of Tony Stark (as played by Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man) when addressing speculation that he is secretly a superhero: “That would be outlandish… and fantastic.”
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Examples of outlandish in a Sentence
Shi En Kim, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Nov. 2024
What began as a personal project to capture President Trump’s unprecedented and often outlandish remarks, however, soon grew, when Weymar opened Tiny Pricks Project to the public.
—Gabby Shacknai, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2024
For an architect to do something that kind of outlandish is a very un-government feeling, to me at least.
—Owen Davies, Curbed, 4 Nov. 2024
In the wake of hurricanes Helene and Milton, an outlandish conspiracy theory about the Federal Emergency Management Agency that has percolated for decades started to reappear online.
—Bruna Horvath, NBC News, 27 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Outlandish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/outlandish. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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outlandish
adjective
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