Meanings
plural outpatients
- governmentA patient who receives treatment at a hospital or clinic but is not admitted overnight; a receiver of ambulatory care.
An empty shop at Birmingham New Street station has been converted into an NHS outpatient clinic, to enable patients to have routine blood tests away from hospital.
2020 April 8, “Network News: NHS outpatient clinic at New Street”, in Rail, page 13Antonyms: inpatient
- not comparablegovernmentProvided without requiring an overnight stay by the patient.
It is outpatient and prepaid.
1998 August 23, “Public Health Officer Warns of Risks of Liposuction”, in Los Angeles Times2 more examples
MR. MILLER: It is more outpatient than it is inpatient.
1991, United States Commission on the Future Structure of Veterans Health Care, Proceedings of the Commission on the Future Structure of Veterans Health Care, page 1174The changes are necessary because "health care is going more outpatient than inpatient," Whitacre said.
1994 June 6, “Huntington Hospital Plans Renovation Project Construction is Expected to be Completed within Two Years”, in Fort Wayne News SentinelSynonyms: ambulatory · Antonyms: inpatient
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA patient who receives treatment at a hospital or clinic but is not admitted overnight; a receiver of ambulatory care.
adjectiveProvided without requiring an overnight stay by the patient.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna patient who does not reside in the hospital where they are being treated
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*úd
- Proto-Germanic*ūt
- Proto-Germanic*ūt-
- Old Englishūt-
- Middle Englishut-
- Englishout-
- Englishpatient
- Englishoutpatient
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 門診病人 /门诊病人
- 門診病人 /门诊病人 (ménzhěn bìngrén)patient
Czech ambulantní
- ambulantníprovided without requiring an overnight stay by the patient
Dutch poliklinische patiënt
- poliklinische patiëntpatient
Finnish poliklinikkapotilas, avohoidon potilas
- poliklinikkapotilaspatient
- avohoidon potilaspatient
- avohoitopotilaspatient
French patient ambulatoire, ambulatoire
- patient ambulatoirepatient
- ambulatoireprovided without requiring an overnight stay by the patient
German ambulanter Patient, ambulant
- ambulanter Patientpatient
- ambulantprovided without requiring an overnight stay by the patient
Greek εξωτερικός ασθενής
- εξωτερικός ασθενής (exoterikós asthenís)patient
Hungarian járóbeteg, ambuláns beteg
- járóbetegpatient
- ambuláns betegpatient
Indonesian pasien rawat jalan
- pasien rawat jalanpatient
Malay pesakit luar
- pesakit luarpatient
Polish pacjent leczony ambulatoryjnie, pacjentka leczona ambulatoryjnie
- pacjent leczony ambulatoryjniepatient
- pacjentka leczona ambulatoryjniepatient
- ambulatoryjnyprovided without requiring an overnight stay by the patient
Portuguese paciente ambulatorial
- paciente ambulatorialpatient
Russian амбулато́рный больно́й, амбулато́рный пацие́нт
- амбулато́рный больно́й (ambulatórnyj bolʹnój)patient
- амбулато́рный пацие́нт (ambulatórnyj paciént)patient
- амбулато́рный (ambulatórnyj)provided without requiring an overnight stay by the patient
Spanish paciente ambulatorio/externo, paciente ambulatoria
- paciente ambulatorio/externopatient
- paciente ambulatoriapatient
- exopacientepatient
- ectopacientepatient
Thai ผู้ป่วยนอก
- ผู้ป่วยนอกpatient
Ukrainian амбулато́рний
- амбулато́рний (ambulatórnyj)provided without requiring an overnight stay by the patient
Cite this entry
outpatient. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/outpatient
“outpatient.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/outpatient. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “outpatient,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/outpatient.
Source: outpatient on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.