outlandish

comparative more outlandish · superlative most outlandish

1. archaicOf or from a foreign country; not indigenous or native; alien, foreign.

   [H]e did not like the name of the outlandish man with the golden clock in his stockings.

   1711 May 3 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “SUNDAY, April 23, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 46; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 302

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   [W]e haue bꝛokẽ thy ſtatutes ⁊ cõmaundementes agayne, ⁊ mengled o^ꝛ ſelues wᵗ the vnclẽnes of the outlandiſh heithen.

   [W]e have broken thy statutes and commandments again, and mingled ourselves with the uncleanness of the foreign heathen.

   1535 October 14 (Gregorian calendar), Myles Coverdale, transl., Biblia: The Byble, […] (Coverdale Bible), [Cologne or Marburg]: [Eucharius Cervicornus and Johannes Soter?], →OCLC, III. Essdras [1 Esdras] viij:[87], folio vij, verso, column 2

   Apiſhneſſe rides in a Chariot made of nothing but cages, in which are all the ſtrangeſt out-landiſh Birds that can be gotten: […]

   1606, Tho[mas] Dekker, “Apishnesse: Or The First Dayes Triumph”, in The Seuen Deadly Sinnes of London: […], London: […] E[dward] A[llde] for Nathaniel Butter, […], →OCLC, page 32

   Did not Solomon king of Iſrael ſinne by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloued of his God, and God made him king ouer all Iſrael: neuertheleſſe, euen him did outlandiſh women cauſe to ſinne.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Nehemiah 13:26, column 2

   The people therefore of the fair made a great gazing upon them: Some ſaid they vvere Fools, ſome they vvere Bedlams, and ſome they are Outlandiſh-men.

   1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC, page 123

   [I]f breeding amongſt Chriſtians vvas as much encouraged as amongſt Dogs and Horſes, vve need not be making Lavvs to let in a Parcel of outlandiſh Locuſts to eat us all up.

   1752, Samuel Foote, Taste. A Comedy, […], London: […] R[ichard] Francklin, […], →OCLC, Act I, page 9

   Synonyms: non-native, acquired, additional, adventitious, alien, ascititious, extraneous, foreign · Antonyms: inlandish, unoutlandish, aboriginal, autochthonal, autochthonous, endemic, indigenous, inlandish

2. broadlyAppearing to be foreign; strange, unfamiliar.

   Roast beef and plum pudding are also held in superstitious veneration, and port and sherry maintain their grounds as the only true English wines; all others being considered vile outlandish beverages.

   1820 September 13, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “Little Britain”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., number VII, New York, N.Y.: […] C[ornelius] S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC, pages 97–98

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   I believe, Lady, your Ladyſhip obſerved a young VVoman at Church yeſterday at Even-ſong, vvho vvas dreſt in one of your outlandiſh Garments; I think I have ſeen your Ladyſhip in ſuch a one. Hovvever, in the Country, ſuch Dreſſes are / Rara avis in Terris, nigroq; ſimillima Cycno, / That is, Madam, as much to ſay, / A rare Bird upon the Earth, and very like a black Svvan.

   1749, Henry Fielding, “A Story Told by Mr. Supple, the Curate. The Penetration of Squire Western. His Great Love for His Daughter, and the Return to It Made by Her.”, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume II, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book IV, pages 67–68

3. broadlyGreatly different from common experience; bizarre, outrageous, strange.First known use late 16th c.

   The rock star wore black with outlandish pink and green spiked hair.

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   [T]hoſe Laſciuious, Immodeſt, VVhoriſh, or vngodly Faſhions, and Attires, vvhich Metamorphiſe, and Transforme, our Light, and Giddie Females of the Superior and Gentile ranke, into ſundry Antique, Horred, and Out-landiſh ſhapes, from day, to day: […]

   1628, William Prynne, The Vnlouelinesse, of Louelockes. Or, A Summarie Discourse, Proouing: The Wearing, and Nourishing of a Locke, or Loue-locke, to be Altogether Vnseemely, and Vnlawfull unto Christians. […], London: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 1

   He was an outlandish figure, with his wide-brimmed hat and pointed beard, among those country folk, and it was easy to see that they thought him very queer; but his spirits were so high, his enthusiasm so contagious, that it was impossible not to like him.

   1915, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter CXIX, in Of Human Bondage, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, →OCLC, page 631

   Except for an eye-catching sky-blue container boldly and attractively featuring the B.T.C.'s "door-to-door" arrow symbol[…], there were no outlandish colour schemes or lettering styles.

   1961 July, “Talking of Trains: The Marylebone Exhibition”, in Trains Illustrated, London: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 388

   I hardly need to add that this story requires outlandish assumptions to make investment behaviour more passive than one would expect it to be in an industrial capitalist economy.

   1969 (date delivered), R[obert] M[erton] Solow, “Characteristics of Steady States”, in Growth Theory: An Exposition […], London: Clarendon Press, published 1970, →OCLC, page 13

   Synonyms: aberrant, abnormal, alien, anomalous, as queer as Dick's hatband, bizarre, booky, curious · Antonyms: unoutlandish, average, medial, basic, bog-standard, common, commonplace, common-and-garden

4. broadlyderogatoryOf a place: far away from where most people are located; in the middle of nowhere, out of the way, remote.

   It will be very convenient to have a medical man—if he is clever—in one's own parish. I get dreadfully nervous sometimes, living in such an outlandish place; and Sherton is so far to send to.

   1886 May – 1887 April, Thomas Hardy, chapter VIII, in The Woodlanders […], volume I, London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., published 1887, →OCLC, page 151

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   I will take this occasion of adding that we are both enjoying ourselves in these outlandish parts, and only wish for the presence of our friends (yourself and John, to wit) to make the trip perfectly enjoyable as it promises to be instructive.

   1915, Virginia Woolf, chapter III, in The Voyage Out, London: Duckworth & Co., […], →OCLC, page 54

   Synonyms: in the boondocks, distant, far, far-flung, far-off, faraway, outlying, out of the way · Antonyms: around the corner, citerior, close, close by, immediate, near, nearby, nigh

1. obsoleteA foreign language.

   Never ſtir if that Gentleman ben't the ſame that vve ſee'd at the Painting Man's, that vvas ſo zivil to Mother, only he has got a black VVig on, and ſpeaks outlandiſh.

   1752, Samuel Foote, Taste. A Comedy, […], London: […] R[ichard] Francklin, […], →OCLC, Act II, page 29

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   [H]ovv ſoone God from Heaven had ſent His fiery tongues upon His Apoſtles; the Devill from hell preſently ſent for his fiery tongues, and put them in the mouthes of his Apoſtles, to diſgrace and ſcoffe at thoſe of God's ſending. […] [T]heſe good fellovves have been at it, and novv they can ſpeake nothing but outlandiſh: ſome little broken Greek or Latine they had, and novv out it comes.

   1618 June 2 (date delivered; Gregorian calendar), Lancelot Andrewes, “[Sermons of the Sending of the Holy Ghost, Preached vpon Whit-Sunday.] A Sermon Preached before the King’s Maiestie at Greenwich on the XXIV. of May, A.D. MDCXVIII. being Whit-Sunday.”, in XCVI. Sermons […], London: […] George Miller, for Richard Badger, published 1629, →OCLC, pages 710–711