outrageous
English
Etymology
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Anglo-Norman outrageus, (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle French outrageus, from outrage; equivalent to outrage + -ous.
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 331: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /aʊtˈɹeɪdʒəs/
- Rhymes: -eɪdʒəs
Adjective
outrageous (comparative more outrageous, superlative most outrageous)
- Violating morality or decency; provoking indignation or affront. [from 14th c.]
- c. 1601, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, First Folio 1623:
- To be, or not to be, that is the Question: / Whether 'tis Nobler in the minde to suffer / The Slings and Arrowes of outragious Fortune, / Or to take Armes against a Sea of troubles, / And by opposing end them [...].
- 2011, Paul Wilson, The Guardian, 19 Oct 2011:
- The Irish-French rugby union whistler Alain Rolland was roundly condemned for his outrageous decision that lifting a player into the air then turning him over so he falls on his head or neck amounted to dangerous play.
- c. 1601, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, First Folio 1623:
- Transgressing reasonable limits; extravagant, immoderate. [from 14th c.]
- 2004, David Smith, The Observer, 19 Dec 2004:
- Audience members praised McKellen, best known for Shakespearean roles and as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings, for his show-stealing turn as Twankey in a series of outrageous glitzy dresses.
- 2004, David Smith, The Observer, 19 Dec 2004:
- Shocking; exceeding conventional behaviour; provocative. [from 18th c.]
- 1935, George Goodchild, chapter 1, in Death on the Centre Court:
- She mixed furniture with the same fatal profligacy as she mixed drinks, and this outrageous contact between things which were intended by Nature to be kept poles apart gave her an inexpressible thrill.
- 2001, Imogen Tilden, The Guardian, 8 Dec 2001:
- "It's something I really am quite nervous about," he admits, before adding, with relish: "You have to be a bit outrageous and challenging sometimes."
- (now rare) Fierce, violent. [from 14th c.]
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.4:
- For els my feeble vessell, crazd and crackt / Through thy strong buffets and outrageous blowes, / Cannot endure, but needes it must be wrackt [...].
- 1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, book I, page 17:
- For when he knew his Rival freed and gone, / He ſwells with Wrath; he makes outrageous Moan: / He frets, he fumes, he ſtares, he ſtamps the Ground; / The hollow Tow'r with Clamours rings around: […]
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.4:
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
shocking
Further reading
- “outrageous”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “outrageous”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.