outlandish means of or from a foreign country; not indigenous or native; alien, foreign.
outlandish is pronounced /ˌaʊtˈlændɪʃ/.
Why “outlandish” is a great word
Describes what is so strikingly or grotesquely strange as to defy familiar conventions, carrying the original sense of 'foreign' but strongly shifted to imply strangeness to the point of being jarring. Its etymology is precise: From Middle English outlandisch, from Old English ūtlendisċ ('foreign, strange'), from ūtland ('foreign land, outland'), from ūt ('out') + land ('land') + the adjectival suffix -isċ ('-ish'). Unlike 'eccentric,' which cloaks personal quirks in charm, or 'foreign,' a neutral geographical fact, 'outlandish' evokes the visceral shock of the utterly alien. It is the lurid plumage of an exotic bird in a grey city park, the dizzying architecture of a dream, or the plot of a tale so twisted it feels imported from another dimension—the quality of something so far beyond the expected that it seems to have arrived from a country that does not exist on any map.
Etymology
The adjective is derived from Middle English outlandisch, outlondish (“foreign”), from Old English ūtlendisċ (“foreign; strange, outlandish”), from Proto-West Germanic *ūtlandisk, from Proto-Germanic *ūtlandiskaz, from *ūtlandą (“(adjective) alien, foreign; relating to outlying land; (noun) foreign land; outlying land”) + *-iskaz (suffix forming adjectives from nouns with the sense ‘characteristic of; pertaining to’). *Ūtlandą is derived from *ūt- (suffix meaning ‘beyond; external to, on the outside of’) (from Proto-Indo-European *úd (“away; out, outward; upwards”)) + *landą (“area of ground, land”) (from Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- (“heath; land”)). By surface analysis, outland + -ish. The noun is derived from the adjective.
Cognates
* Danish udenlandsk (“foreign, non-domestic”)
* Dutch u
adj
- Of or from a foreign country; not indigenous or native; alien, foreign.“[W]e haue bꝛokẽ thy ſtatutes ⁊ cõmaundementes agayne, ⁊ mengled o^ꝛ ſelues wᵗ the vnclẽnes of the outlandiſh heithen.”
- Appearing to be foreign; strange, unfamiliar.“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.”
- Greatly different from common experience; bizarre, outrageous, strange.“The rock star wore black with outlandish pink and green spiked hair.”
- Of 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.”
noun
- A foreign language.“[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.”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- bizarre 87% match — Strangely unconventional; highly unusual and different from common experience, often in an extravagant, fantastic, and/or conspicuous way. vs outlandish →
- peregrinity 86% match — The quality of being foreign or strange. vs outlandish →
- uncouth 86% match — Unfamiliar, strange, foreign. vs outlandish →
- eldritch 85% match — Unearthly, supernatural, eerie, preternatural. vs outlandish →
- alienity 85% match — The fact or condition of being alien; alienation, separation; strangeness, foreignness. vs outlandish →
- uncanny 85% match — Strange, and mysteriously unsettling (as if supernatural); weird. vs outlandish →
- preternatural 85% match — Beyond or not conforming to what is natural or according to the regular course of things; strange. vs outlandish →
- extraordinary 85% match — Out of the ordinary; exceptional; unusual. vs outlandish →