Meaning & use
outdoors person
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A person who enjoys spending time in nature and doing activities outside, such as hiking, camping, or fishing.
Grammar: Countable noun: use 'an outdoors person' or 'outdoors people' for the plural.
Patterns
- be an outdoors person
- a real outdoors person
My sister is a true outdoors person; she goes camping almost every weekend.
As an outdoors person, he prefers mountains to shopping malls.
They hired her because she is an outdoors person who can lead nature tours.
nouncountable
Someone who chooses to work or live in natural environments rather than in cities or offices.
Grammar: Often used with 'not' to contrast with indoor types: 'I'm not an outdoors person.'
Patterns
- not an outdoors person
- become an outdoors person
After years in an office, she became an outdoors person and moved to a farm.
He is not an outdoors person at all; he hates getting dirty.
The job suits an outdoors person who does not mind cold weather.
Word forms
| plural | outdoors people |
|---|
Common combinations
- a real outdoors person
- She is a real outdoors person who knows how to survive in the wild.
- an avid outdoors person
- My uncle is an avid outdoors person and owns a lot of camping gear.
- not an outdoors person
- I'm not an outdoors person, so I prefer a hotel to a tent.
- an outdoors person at heart
- Even after moving to the city, he remained an outdoors person at heart.
Synonyms and how they differ
- outdoorsman
- More traditional and usually refers to a man; it can also suggest hunting or fishing skills, while 'outdoors person' is broader and gender-neutral.
- nature lover
- Focuses on loving nature rather than doing physical activities outside; an outdoors person is often more active.
- outdoorsy
- This is an adjective, not a noun: 'She is outdoorsy' means she likes outdoor activities, but you cannot say 'She is an outdoorsy'.
Opposites
Word family
- outdoors adverb
- Outside, not in a building: 'The children played outdoors all day.'
- outdoor adjective
- Used before a noun to mean happening or used outside: 'outdoor clothing', 'outdoor pool'.
- outdoorsy adjective
- Informal adjective meaning fond of or suited to outdoor activities: 'an outdoorsy family'.
Commonly confused: outdoors person or outdoor person?
outdoors person vs outdoor person
'Outdoor' is an adjective (outdoor activities), while 'outdoors' is an adverb or noun. The compound noun is 'outdoors person', not 'outdoor person'.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'outdoors person' correctly?
Choose one answer.
The correct form needs the article 'an' because 'outdoors' starts with a vowel sound. Option B is also grammatical but adds unnecessary detail; option C misses the article, and option D uses 'a' instead of 'an'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “outdoors person”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.