Meaning & use

outstanding

adjective·Academic

Exceptionally good or impressive; standing out clearly from others in quality.

See it in a sentence

The teacher praised her outstanding essay in front of the entire class.

He still has an outstanding balance of two hundred dollars on his credit card.

A note on using this word

Outstanding has two very different uses: praising excellence, or describing a debt or task that remains unresolved.

Words with a similar meaning

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

Another way to use it

2. adjective

Not yet paid, resolved, or dealt with, especially referring to a debt or task.

Several invoices remained outstanding at the end of the financial quarter.

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “outstanding”, then compare your use with the examples above.

Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.