Word.ws English Dictionary

out of the loop

out of the loop prepositional phrase: not informed, up-to-date, or current; not included in a process or discussion.

Prepositional phrase

  1. (idiomatic) Not informed, up-to-date, or current; not included in a process or discussion.
    • Automation technology can lead to complacency when it takes the controller ‘out of the loop’ by reducing the need for his interaction with a flightcrew and de-emphasizing the cooperative aspects of the air traffic system.1973, International Federation of Air Traffic Controller's Association (contributor), The Controller, Volumes 12-15, page 22
    • "I was out of the loop," he added, explaining that he was planning to leave government at that time.1976 September 16, “Former Nixon Aide Denies Soliciting Campaign Fund”, in New York Times

Examples of out of the loop in a sentence

  • “Well, we've been out of the loop for a few hours.1995, Tom Clancy, Debt of Honor, →ISBN:
  • The members of parliament have felt ignored by their leaders for much of this crisis, and were kept out of the loop during the negotiations.2001 August 27, Tony Karon, “Why Macedonians Balk at NATO's Presence”, in Time:

Synonyms of out of the loop

Antonyms

Origin of out of the loop

First use appears c. 1973. See cite below. Its use is thought by some to have roots in computer or telephony terminology.

Questions about out of the loop

What does out of the loop mean?
Out of the loop means not informed, up-to-date, or current; not included in a process or discussion.
How do you use out of the loop in a sentence?
“Well, we've been out of the loop for a few hours.
What part of speech is out of the loop?
Out of the loop is a prepositional phrase.

Words near out of the loop in the dictionary

  1. out of the corner of one's eye
  2. out of the frying pan and into the fire
  3. out of the frying pan, into the fire
  4. out of the gate
  5. out of the goodness of one's heart
  6. out of the loop
  7. out of the money
  8. out of the mouths of babes
  9. out of the mouths of babes and sucklings
  10. out of the ordinary
  11. out of the picture

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: out of the loop (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-out of the loop.ogg.

Cite this entry: “out of the loop.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/out_of_the_loop. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.