outstanding
- 1Exceptionally good; clearly superior to others of the same kind.
The novel received outstanding reviews from every major critic.
She is an outstanding scientist whose research reshaped the field.
Similarexcellent, great, amazing, incredible, impressive
Oppositemediocre
Note
Praise that already sounds like a superlative still takes degrees. Arthur Burks calls Peirce one of America's "most outstanding intellects", and more outstanding is equally regular. Sports writing also puts it before a figure to mark a remarkable total, as in "an outstanding 28 goals". Its opposite is mediocre, and impressive or surpassing are milder or more formal alternatives.
- 2Still unresolved; not yet settled or completed.
Several outstanding matters remained before the merger could close.
The committee addressed every outstanding objection at the final meeting.
Similarunsettled, unfinished
- 3Still owed; remaining to be paid.
The bank sent a notice about the outstanding loan amount.
Investors were told how much debt remained outstanding at year's end.
Note
Finance has its own word order for it. The adjective can come before the noun, as in an outstanding balance, or after it, as in the capital amount outstanding. The Treaty of Lausanne of 1923 uses the second pattern, and it is the natural one with verbs like remain: debt remains outstanding. Unpaid is the plain synonym. Use the wider word for anything simply unsettled, the "unresolved" sense.
- 4Prominent or conspicuous; standing out plainly from its surroundings.
The tower remained the outstanding landmark for miles around.
Among the gentle hills, one jagged peak was especially outstanding.
Similarprominent, notable, remarkable, noticeable, eminent
Oppositeinconspicuous, unremarkable
Note
The descriptive sense, close to the word's literal build of out- plus standing: what stands out to the eye or the mind. It notes something without praising it, so "the outstanding landmark" is the most conspicuous one, not the finest. Eminent and noteworthy are near neighbors. When praise is meant, the word has shifted to the "excellent" meaning.
- 5Projecting or jutting outward from a surface.
The architect kept the outstanding beams as a visible design feature.
Sharp, outstanding edges along the rock face caught the climbers' ropes.
Similarprominent, protuberant
Note
The physical sense, close to the verb's meaning of projecting from a main body. Protuberant is its nearest synonym. It describes things that jut out, such as beams, edges and spurs of rock. In John Muir's Travels in Alaska (1915), an "outstanding group of mountains" crowns a spur of the Coast Range. There the jutting shape and the visual prominence of the "conspicuous" meaning are hard to pull apart.
Practice
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Origin
Formed from "outstand," equivalent to "out-" plus "standing" (or "outstand" plus the suffix "-ing").