outskirt

out·skirt
O1U1T1S1K5I1R1T1
US/ˈaʊtskɝt/UK/ˈaʊtskɜːt/

noun

A more remote part of a town or city; the periphery, environs; a suburb.

“Many people commute into the business district from the outskirts of town.”

Similar
Scrabble 12

Meanings

nounoutskirt (plural outskirts)

plural outskirts

  1. A more remote part of a town or city; the periphery, environs; a suburb.

    Many people commute into the business district from the outskirts of town.

    3 more examples

    I told her of my plan to take John into an urban outskirt area for the purpose of retrieving some vital technical manuals.

    2010, J. L. Bourne, Beyond Exile: Day by Day Armageddon, page 37

    The outskirt communities were originally established as labor camps for railroad workers, farm and ranch hands.

    1983, Our Barrios: Past, Present, and Future, page 20

    Hal Smith, manager of the Ferry Field theatre, Detroit, one of the largest and prettiest outskirt houses in town, played Metro's "Revelation" for three days last week

    1917, Michigan Film Review, page 347
verboutskirt (third-person singular simple present outskirts, present participle outskirting, simple past and past participle outskirted)

present singular third person outskirts · participle present outskirting · participle past outskirted · past outskirted

  1. transitiveTo surround as an outskirt.

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna part of the city far removed from the center

Similar
Broader
city district

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*úd
  2. Proto-Germanic*ūt
  3. Proto-Germanic*ūt-
  4. Old Englishūt-
  5. Middle Englishut-
  6. Englishout-
  7. Proto-Germanic*skurtijǭ
  8. Old Norseskyrta
  9. Middle Englishskyrte
  10. Englishskirt
  11. Englishoutskirt

From out- + skirt.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic ضَاحِيَة, مَشَارِف
  • ضَاحِيَة (ḍāḥiya)periphery
  • مَشَارِف (mašārif)periphery
Catalan afores
  • aforesperiphery
Chinese Mandarin 郊外, 郊區 /郊区
  • 郊外 (jiāowài)periphery
  • 郊區 /郊区 (jiāoqū)periphery
Czech předměstí, okraj
  • předměstíperiphery
  • okrajperiphery
Danish udkant
  • udkantperiphery
Finnish laitakaupunginosa
  • laitakaupunginosaperiphery
French banlieue
  • banlieueperiphery
German Außenbezirk, Stadtrand
  • Außenbezirkperiphery
  • Stadtrandperiphery
  • Außenbereichperiphery
  • Vorortperiphery
  • Randbezirkperiphery
  • Randgebietperiphery
  • Randbereichperiphery
Hindi बाह्यांचल, सीमांत
  • बाह्यांचल (bāhyāñcal)periphery
  • सीमांत (sīmānt)periphery
  • उपांत (upānt)periphery
  • सिवान (sivān)periphery
  • हवाली (havālī)periphery
  • किनारा (kinārā)periphery
Hungarian külváros
  • külvárosperiphery
Icelandic útjaðar
  • útjaðarperiphery
Italian periferia
  • periferiaperiphery
Norwegian utkant
  • utkantperiphery
Portuguese periferia
  • periferiaperiphery
Russian окра́ина
  • окра́ина (okráina)periphery
Spanish afueras
  • afuerasperiphery
Swedish utkant
  • utkantperiphery
Cite this entry
APA

outskirt. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/outskirt

MLA

“outskirt.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/outskirt. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “outskirt,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/outskirt.

Source: outskirt on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.