adjective
outlandish
Conspicuously or grossly unconventional or unusual
Where it comes from
Old English utlendisc meant foreign or not native. It was formed from utland, a foreign land, plus the adjective-forming ending that became -ish.
How the meaning developed
Foreign customs could appear unfamiliar to local observers, so the word shifted from describing origin to judging strangeness. Its modern sense of bizarre preserves that outsider's perspective.
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Sources
Definitions adapted from Open English WordNet where applicable. License and attribution. Word-history text comes from Lexifour’s sourced social research; pages are assembled automatically, not individually fact-checked on every update.
Updated 2026-09-25. Report a correction.