Standard Lemma guide

outskirts

noun · verb · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈaʊtskɝts/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈaʊtskɜːts/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: AW1 T S K ER2 T S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The area surrounding a city or town; suburb.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: plural, plural-normally

Examples

  • He lived on the outskirts of Paris for a time.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

plural of outskirt

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: form-of, plural

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

third-person singular simple present indicative of outskirt

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: form-of, indicative, present, singular, third-person

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

outlying areas (as of a city or town)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • they lived on the outskirts of Houston
  • they mingled in the outskirts of the crowd

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: section

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *úd Proto-Germanic *ūt Proto-Germanic *ūt- Old English ūt- Middle English ut- English out- English skirts English outskirts From out- + skirts.

Across languages

Translations

45 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: ucqar — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Azerbaijani: kənar — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Azerbaijani: qıraq — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Belarusian: ускра́іна (uskráina) — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Bulgarian: покрайнина (pokrajnina) — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Catalan: afores — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Catalan: extraradi — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Chinese Mandarin: 郊外 (jiāowài) — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Chinese Mandarin: 郊區 /郊区 (jiāoqū) — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Finnish: laitakaupunki — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Finnish: esikaupunki — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Finnish: laitamat — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • French: banlieue — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • German: Stadtrand — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Greek: περίχωρα (períchora) — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Hungarian: külváros — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Irish: ciumhais — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Irish: imeachtar — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Italian: periferia — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Japanese: 郊外 (kōgai) — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Japanese: 町外れ (machihazure) — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Korean: 교외 (gyooe) — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Korean: 근교 (geun'gyo) — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Latvian: nomale — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Latvian: priekšpilsēta — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Persian: حوالی (havâli) — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Polish: peryferie — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Portuguese: periferia — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Portuguese: arrabalde — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Portuguese: subúrbio — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Portuguese: arredores — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Russian: окра́ина — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Russian: предме́стья (predméstʹja) — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Spanish: afueras — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Spanish: alrededores — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Spanish: extrarradio — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Spanish: arrabal — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Spanish: periferia — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Spanish: aledaño — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Spanish: aledaños — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Swedish: utkant — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Swedish: utkanter — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Telugu: శివార్లు (śivārlu) — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Ottoman Turkish: دامن (daman) — the edges or areas around a city or town
  • Welsh: cyrion — the edges or areas around a city or town
Real reading context

outskirts in complete knowledge articles