Meanings
comparative outdoorsier · superlative outdoorsiest
- informalAssociated with the outdoors, or suited to outdoor life.
Fly-fishing is on the brink of becoming to ex-hipsters what golf has been to the World War Two-ers. 'Cause think about it. It's cheaper, it's outdoorsier, it's less exclusive, it's less bourgeois.
1992 April, David James Duncan, The Brothers K, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, ISBN 978-0-385-24003-1; republished New York, N.Y.: Dial Press, June 2005, ISBN 978-0-553-37849-8, page 4872 more examples
Whenever the kids ask my wife what to get Ol' Whosis for Christmas, she tells them, "You know how he loves outdoor sports. Why don't you get him something outdoorsy?" […] Let me state here that there should be a law prohibiting any person who uses the term "outdoorsy" from dispensing advice about what kinds of presents to buy an outdoorsman. A few years ago, after my spouse advised her I would like something outdoorsy, one of my aunts gave me something called The Ultimate Fishing Machine.
1978 December, Patrick F. McManus, “The Gift”, in Field & Stream, volume LXXXIII, number 8, New York, N.Y.: CBS Publications, →OCLC, page 88Some colleges, due to their location and campus atmosphere, attract students interested in outdoor adventure activities, such as rock climbing, camping, hiking, white-water rafting, kayaking, mountain biking, sailing, and skiing. Students at outdoorsy colleges tend to be hearty types who can't wait to go outside for the next nature-oriented activity. Outdoorsy colleges are frequently located close to national parks, wilderness areas, and ski resorts. Some of the nation's best ski teams are found at outdoorsy colleges, […] Some outdoorsy colleges have special off-campus facilities and programs that get students out into the wilds.
2015, Janet Marthers, Paul Marthers, Follow Your Interests to Find the Right College, Tucson, Ariz.: Wheatmark, →ISBN, page 202Antonyms: indoorsy
- informalFond of the outdoors.
Fall, though, is a time to be outdoors, at least part of the time, and you can be outdoorsier easier in Switzerland then than almost any place we know.
1960, Esquire, volume 53, New York, N.Y.: Esquire Publishing, →OCLC, page 1845 more examples
This room is high and wide and 71 feet long and when a dozen typewriters are lined up a reasonable distance apart in a room that size not even the outdoorsiest of the Fourth Estate could suggest that he was suffering from claustrophobia.
1954, “Press and Radio Coverage of the A.G.M.”, in Industrial Canada, volume 55, Toronto: Canadian Manufacturers' Association, →OCLC, page 82Of the Adirondackers who make their homes here and then rarely use them—the outdoorsiest of the outdoorspeople—some climb mountains, others cliffs; some push pedals, other paddles; […]
1996, Galen Crane, “Gear without Fear”, in Adirondack Life, volumes 27–28, Keene, N.Y.: Adirondack Life, →OCLC, page 4"There's nothing wrong with outdoorsy women," he said, pausing to let his eyes fall down the length of her body as if he were re-evaluating his first judgment. "You're just not one of them. Efficient maybe, but not outdoorsy."
2009, Tracey Marley, Promise for Tomorrow: A Novel (Heritage House Series; I), Mustang, Okla.: Tate Publishing & Enterprises, →ISBN, page 224Let's say I'm at the playground with my daughter. I'm bleary-eyed, pushing her on the swings, and one swing over there's an outdoorsy father – because fathers only come in one style here, and that's outdoorsy.
2012 August, Maria Semple, Where'd You Go, Bernadette: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Little, Brown & Company, →ISBN“It was surreal, but we weren’t really freaked out about it,” McBride Newman said. “We’re really outdoorsy people. We love the wilderness.”
2019 December, “Family finds owl in Christmas tree after a week: 'He was hugging the trunk'”, in The GuardianAntonyms: indoorsy
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveAssociated with the outdoors, or suited to outdoor life.
adjectiveFond of the outdoors.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivecharacteristic of or suitable to outdoor life
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
German naturverbunden, naturorientiert
- naturverbundenassociated with the outdoors, or suited to outdoor life
- naturorientiertassociated with the outdoors, or suited to outdoor life
- Natur-associated with the outdoors, or suited to outdoor life
- Frischluft-associated with the outdoors, or suited to outdoor life
- naturverbundenfond of the outdoors
- naturliebendfond of the outdoors
- frischluftliebendfond of the outdoors
Cite this entry
outdoorsy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/outdoorsy
“outdoorsy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/outdoorsy. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “outdoorsy,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/outdoorsy.
Source: outdoorsy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.