outright

adverb out·right \ ˌau̇t-ˈrīt \

|Updated on: 17 Jul 2018

Examples: outright in a Sentence

Definition of outright

1 archaic : straight ahead : directly

2 : in entirety : completely

rejected the proposal outright

outright refuses to cooperate with law enforcement
—Tim Murphy

3 : without restraint or reservation

laughed outright

cried outright

4 : on the spot : instantaneously

was killed outright

5 : without lien (see lien 1) or encumbrance (see encumbrance 2)

purchased the property outright for cash

See outright defined for English-language learners

See outright defined for kids

Examples of outright in a Sentence

She won the competition outright.
The painting is now owned outright by the museum.
Their house was destroyed outright by the fire.
I bought the car outright.

Recent Examples of outright from the Web

The city of Seattle has banned plastic straws and utensils outright, too.

— greg morago, Houston Chronicle, "Houston Zoo partnering with local bars on new straw initiative," 13 July 2018
As a senator Duque earned a reputation for being a thoughtful, cordial adversary who frequently stretched his hand across the aisle, but some of his prominent backers are outright hostile to the FARC.

— joshua goodman, BostonGlobe.com, "Colombia peace deal uncertain after hawk’s election," 18 June 2018
The initial plan was to buy the player outright, but due to getting fined by UEFA for their contravention of FFP regulations, the Super Lig side are now looking for a temporary move for the midfielder.

— SI.com, "Leicester City Midfielder Adrien Silva Wanted by Galatasaray Despite Financial Fair Play Concerns," 14 June 2018
All in exchange for alleged national-security benefits that are vastly overstated if not outright fictitious.

— colin grabow, WSJ, "The Jones Act Drives America’s Finest Into Exile," 29 Apr. 2018
To acknowledge those external forces outright is to complicate the convenient picture, to question the ability of individual people to become their best selves, to live their best lives, to embrace their own truths.

— megan garber, The Atlantic, "Tony Robbins, #MeToo, and the Limits of Self-Help," 9 Apr. 2018
The whole thing would be horrifying, if not outright incomprehensible, to a conventionally upbeat advertising agency.

— david z. morris, Fortune, "The Great Wendy’s-Steak-Umm Flame War Captures Some of Twitter’s Biggest Problems," 6 Jan. 2018
The sink weighs a whopping 1,000 pounds and would have required legs for support if Joo hadn’t outright refused to even consider the option and gutted the walls to hoist up a support beam instead.

— danielle fox, ELLE Decor, "How Concrete Modernized A Former Celebrity-Owned Condo in New York," 18 June 2018
But the system for dealing with unaccompanied immigrant children was already overwhelmed, if not outright broken.

— dara lind, Vox, "The Trump administration’s separation of families at the border, explained," 11 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'outright.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of outright

14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

outright

adjective out·right \ ˈau̇t-ˌrīt \

Definition of outright

1 a : being completely or exactly what is stated

an outright lie

b : given without reservation

outright grants for research

c : made without encumbrance or lien

an outright sale

2 archaic : proceeding directly onward

—

outrightly

adverb

See outright defined for English-language learners

Examples of outright in a Sentence

I was surprised by their outright rejection of the idea.

Recent Examples of outright from the Web

Some polls also show his Morena party, in coalition with two smaller allies, having a shot at capturing an outright majority in both houses, something no Mexican president has had in more than 20 years.

— juan montes, WSJ, "Mexicans Say They Will Vote for Change," 29 June 2018
And hell-bent on preventing Robert Bork from becoming a Supreme Court justice, Senate Democrats engaged in one of the most disgusting smear campaigns which culminated on the Senate floor, with outright lies from Senator Ted Kennedy.

— Fox News, "What Trump is looking for in his next Supreme Court justice," 28 June 2018
The result makes the ultranationalists and their septuagenarian leader, Devlet Bahceli, even more indispensable to AK, which won only 293 seats, seven short of an outright majority.

— The Economist, "Turkey’s president sweeps the board and assumes greater powers," 25 June 2018
But the truth is that Trump’s entire approach to this investigation is obfuscation — by spinning innocuous things into major scandals, or even outright lying about what the FBI has and hasn’t found.

— zack beauchamp, Vox, "The “we’ll stop it” text: the IG report’s most inflammatory finding, explained," 14 June 2018
None of the four candidates running for Washington County chair earned an outright majority.

— eder campuzano, OregonLive.com, "Oregon primary 2018: It's between Harrington, Terry for Washington County chair in November," 16 May 2018
None of the candidates are expected to win an outright majority and will probably have to enter coalitions to have enough votes to elect a prime minister.

— washington post, BostonGlobe.com, "Iraqis vote in first national election after toppling of Islamic State," 12 May 2018
Besides, there’s often evidence of embellishment and sometimes outright lying by petitioners to get people to sign on to initiatives.

— michael smolens, sandiegouniontribune.com, "What SoccerCity's lawsuit really says: SDSU is one heck of a brand," 27 Apr. 2018
Glenn Kessler, who writes the nonpartisan Fact Checker blog at the Washington Post, awarded Nunes’s statement four Pinocchios—his rating for an outright lie.

— steven strogatz, The New Yorker, "Christopher Steele, the Man Behind the Trump Dossier," 5 Mar. 2018