Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Conspicuously unconventional; bizarre. synonym: strange.
  • adjective Located far from civilized areas; remote.
  • adjective Archaic Of foreign origin; not native.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Of or belonging to a foreign country; foreign; not native.
  • Strange; unfamiliar; odd; uncouth; barbarous; bizarre.
  • Out of the way; remote from society; secluded.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective archaic Foreign; not native.
  • adjective Deviating conspicuously from common practice; strange; freakish; bizarre; rude; barbarous; uncouth; clownish; ; -- usually used in a negative sense.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective bizarre, strange
  • adjective archaic foreign, alien

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective conspicuously or grossly unconventional or unusual

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English utlendisc, from ūtland ("foreign land, land abroad") (English outland). Sense of “bizarre” from 1590s. Surface analysis outland +‎ -ish.

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Examples

  • There is actually a lot of hard-core science to support what you call outlandish conclusions (black holes, wormholes, dark matter, dark energy, big bang, parallel universes, etc.)

    Slashdot: Science 2008

  • There is actually a lot of hard-core science to support what you call outlandish conclusions (black holes, wormholes, dark matter, dark energy, big bang, parallel universes, etc.)

    Slashdot 2008

  • There is actually a lot of hard-core science to support what you call outlandish conclusions (black holes, wormholes, dark matter, dark energy, big bang, parallel universes, etc.)

    Slashdot 2008

  • There is actually a lot of hard-core science to support what you call outlandish conclusions (black holes, wormholes, dark matter, dark energy, big bang, parallel universes, etc.)

    Slashdot 2008

  • There is actually a lot of hard-core science to support what you call outlandish conclusions (black holes, wormholes, dark matter, dark energy, big bang, parallel universes, etc.)

    Slashdot 2008

  • In his weekend radio address, Obama sought to dispel what he called the outlandish rumors that reform will promote euthanasia, cut Medicaid or bring about a government takeover of health care.

    Obama goes to health-care battlefront with N.H. town hall 2009

  • Good Luck Mr. President – this is why we elected you and it is what we expect – Health Care Reform with a public option or else the insurance companies will continue to rob people, deny coverage and rake in outlandish profits -

    President Obama's full court press on health care 2009

  • The most outlandish is a get-up Mr. Laurin wears to play golf.

    Why Malkovich Is Fun to Watch 2010

  • We've all paid for the clean up already hundreds of times over. first in outlandish profits to oil companies and now with the health risks and devastating short and long term immeasurable effects on the environment.

    Oil Spill Conspiracy Theories: Join the Live Chat 2010

  • Of comfortable fortune, with no need to do anything but take his comfort, he elected to travel about the world in outlandish and most uncomfortable ways.

    Bunches of Knuckles 2010

Comments

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  • I used outlandish in my Tumblr oldbutnotdotty to comment on the feminine of rodman (work designation of a land surveyor's helper). I was surprised to find that it came down from Old English almost unchanged - utlendisc (see above)

    October 17, 2013