Meaning & use
out-and-out
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Meaning
adjectivebefore a nounformal
complete and thorough; used to emphasize that someone or something is fully a particular (usually bad) thing.
Grammar: Attributive only; never used after a verb like 'be'. Say 'an out-and-out success', not 'the success was out-and-out'.
Patterns
- an out-and-out lie
- an out-and-out thief
- an out-and-out failure
The report was an out-and-out lie from beginning to end.
He called his opponent an out-and-out crook during the debate.
Common combinations
- out-and-out lie
- That story is an out-and-out lie; none of it is true.
- out-and-out success
- The charity event was an out-and-out success, raising over a million dollars.
- out-and-out villain
- In the movie, he plays an out-and-out villain with no redeeming qualities.
Synonyms and how they differ
- complete
- More neutral and general; 'out-and-out' adds a strong sense of disapproval or extremity.
- thorough
- Focuses on being careful and detailed; 'out-and-out' emphasizes being total, often in a bad way.
Opposites
Commonly confused: out-and-out or out and out?
out-and-out vs out and out
Without hyphens, 'out and out' is not a standard phrase; the adjective is always hyphenated.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence using 'out-and-out'.
Choose one answer.
Option B correctly uses 'out-and-out' before a noun to mean complete. An is not typical because the adjective is usually negative; C uses it incorrectly as an adverb; D uses it as a noun.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “out-and-out”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.