Meaning & use
outsider
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Meanings
nouncountable
Someone who is not part of a particular group, community or organization, or who feels they do not belong in it.
Grammar: Often contrasted with insider: the club welcomed outsiders.
Patterns
- an outsider in something
- treat someone as an outsider
As the only newcomer in the village, she felt like an outsider for months.
The company usually promotes from within, so an outsider rarely gets the top job.
He had always been an outsider at school because his family moved so often.
nouncountablesportBritish
A competitor or candidate that is not expected to win, especially in a race or an election.
Grammar: Used mainly in sport, betting and politics: the outsider won the race.
Patterns
- a rank outsider
- an outsider for something
The horse was a rank outsider at fifty to one, yet it crossed the line first.
Few people considered her more than an outsider in the race for mayor.
The little-known team was an outsider to win the title.
Word forms
| plural | outsiders |
|---|
Common combinations
- feel like an outsider
- Moving abroad made him feel like an outsider.
- treated as an outsider
- She was treated as an outsider by the older members of the club.
- rank outsider
- The rank outsider surprised every pundit by finishing second.
- political outsider
- The voters wanted a political outsider who had never held office.
- an outsider's view
- An outsider's view can help a company see its own mistakes.
Synonyms and how they differ
- stranger
- Stranger focuses on someone unknown to you personally, whereas an outsider is someone unconnected to a particular group.
- newcomer
- Newcomer is neutral and suggests the person has only just arrived and may soon belong, while outsider can imply lasting exclusion.
- underdog
- Underdog is used for a competitor expected to lose and often invites sympathy, whereas outsider simply means unlikely to win and is common in racing.
- foreigner
- Foreigner refers to nationality, while outsider is about not belonging to any kind of group.
Opposites
Word family
- outside adjective
- situated on or coming from the exterior
- outsiderness noun
- the feeling or state of not belonging
- insider noun
- someone who belongs to a group and knows its secrets
Commonly confused: outsider or outcast?
outsider vs outcast
An outcast has been actively rejected or driven out by a group, whereas an outsider may simply never have belonged.
Practice
After years of working abroad, Marta returned home but still felt like an ___ in her own town.
Choose one answer.
Outsider means someone who does not feel part of a group, which fits the feeling of not belonging. Insider is the opposite, and overseer means a supervisor.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “outsider”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.