Definitions

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

  • adjective Grossly offensive to decency or morality.
  • adjective Being well beyond the bounds of good taste.
  • adjective Having no regard for morality.
  • adjective Violent or unrestrained in temperament or behavior.
  • adjective Extremely unusual or unconventional; extraordinary.
  • adjective Being beyond all reason; extravagant or immoderate.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Extravagant; extraordinary; unusual.
  • Immoderate; excessive; unrestrained; violent; furious.
  • Atrocious; flagrantly contrary to or regardless of authority, law, order, morality, or decency.
  • Synonyms Exorbitant, extravagant.
  • Wicked. Heinous, etc. (see atrocious), mad, frantic, villainous.

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

  • adjective Of the nature of an outrage; exceeding the limits of right, reason, or decency; such as to cause outrage; involving or doing an outrage; furious; violent; atrocious.

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

  • adjective greatly exceeding bounds of reason or moderation
  • adjective grossly offensive to decency or morality; causing horror

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Anglo-Norman outrageus, Middle French outrageus, from outrage; compare outrage.

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Examples

  • I think it's also important to note that the term outrageous, Soledad, which was used by Mr. Clarke on the "60 Minutes" interview, would be most appropriate to respond to the interview that I heard him have with Bill.

    CNN Transcript Mar 23, 2004 2004

  • U.S. President Barack Obama has condemned Syria for what he called an "outrageous use of violence" against opposition protesters, after 75 people were killed Friday in a government crackdown on the demonstrations.

    Obama Condemns Syria for 'Outrageous' Violence 2011

  • At least President Obama finally sent an envoy to Europe yesterday to explore joint action to stop what he called "outrageous" violence against protesters.

    The $100 Oil Panic 2011

  • Mr. Obama, in a statement on Friday, condemned what he called "outrageous human rights abuses" by authorities in Syria, accusing Mr. Assad of choosing the "path of repression."

    Protests Explode Across Syria Bill Spindle 2011

  • Speaking in Nairobi, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon also said the attack - which he called "outrageous and cowardly" cannot be justified under any circumstances.

    US 'Deeply Shocked' by UN Killings in Afghanistan 2011

  • The lawyers argued that what they called outrageous government conduct allowed the judge to sentence the three men for prison terms shorter than those mandated by law.

    Court Hands Down 25-Year Sentences in NY Synagogue Bomb Plot 2011

  • U.S. President Barack Obama has condemned Syria for what he called an "outrageous use of violence" against opposition protesters, after 75 people were killed Friday in a government crackdown on the demonstrations.

    Obama Condemns Syria for 'Outrageous' Violence 2011

  • Speaking in Nairobi, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon also said the attack - which he called "outrageous and cowardly" cannot be justified under any circumstances.

    US 'Deeply Shocked' by UN Killings in Afghanistan 2011

  • I think this video came out at roughly the same point when Lionel hosted the American Music Awards and kept inexplicably repeating the word outrageous, the most overt and least successful attempt in pop history to create a national catchphrase.

    Chuck Klosterman on Film and Television Chuck Klosterman 2009

  • BORGER: But wouldn't you use your leverage that you have on an issue like this, which -- which you call outrageous -- BIDEN: Yes.

    CNN Transcript Apr 7, 2009 2009

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