outskirt
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A part of the city far removed from the center.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
owtskertSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈaʊtskɚt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A part of the city far removed from the center
“They built a factory on the outskirts of the city.”
A more remote part of a town or city; the periphery, environs; a suburb.
verb
transitive
To surround as an outskirt.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Typical Use
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A part of the city far removed from the center
Used this way, outskirt is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“They built a factory on the outskirts of the city.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “outskirt of …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: outskirt of …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use outskirt
- “They built a factory on the outskirts of the city.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Outlying areas (as of a city or town).
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.