outback
/ˈaʊtbæk/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.21 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The most remote and desolate areas of Australia; the desert and areas too arid for growing crops.
Australian usage; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "1951 June, W. J. Banks, Flying Doctors of the Outback, The Rotarian, page 23, Communication like this is making a big change in the lives of Australia′s “outback” people."
- "In the outback, many people live and work on sheep and cattle ranches."
- "The outback′s rich, red soil looked like blood because of all the iron in it, and the vast land was so still and barren that it seemed lifeless."
- "Barely a bird and definitely none of my target species greeted the morning so I cut my losses and headed north through the staggeringly vast emptiness of the Outback."
- "Astronomers consider the outback area around Alice Springs — with its low pollution, low humidity and few light sources — to be among the best star-gazing locations on earth."
- "[…]the Civil Service Association is not particularly happy with the decision of the Government in regard to rents and the way they will be levied on its members in the more outback country areas."
Etymology
From out + back.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈaʊtbæk/
Usage
Inflected Forms
outbacks (plural)
more outback (comparative)
most outback (superlative)
outbacks (present, singular)
outbacking (participle, present)
outbacked (participle, past)
outbacked (past)