Word.ws English Dictionary

outstanding

Syllables: out·stan·dingUK/ˌaʊtˈstæn.dɪŋ/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Canada/ˌʌʊtˈstæn.dɪŋ/

outstanding is the present participle and gerund of outstand.

Adjective

outstanding (comparative more outstanding, superlative most outstanding)

  1. Prominent or noticeable; sovereign.
  2. Exceptionally good; distinguished from others by its superiority.
    • Charles S. Peirce, 1839 to 1914, was one of America's most outstanding intellects. Philosopher, mathematician, and scientist, he wrote profusely, the equivalent of almost 100,000 printed pages in all.1978, Arthur Burks, The New Elements of Mathematics (review by Burks)
    • The Gunners captain demonstrated his importance to the team by taking his tally to an outstanding 28 goals in 27 Premier League games as Chelsea slumped again after their shock defeat at QPR last week.2011 October 29, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 3 - 5 Arsenal”, in BBC Sport
    Antonyms:
    mediocre
  3. Projecting outwards.
    • At a distance of about seven or eight miles to the northeastward of the landing, there is an outstanding group of mountains crowning a spur from the main chain of the Coast Range, whose highest point rises about eight thousand feet above the level of the sea;...1915, John Muir, Travels in Alaska
  4. Unresolved; not settled or finished.
    • I have several outstanding tasks on my to-do list.
    • Are there any outstanding issues that need to be addressed?
  5. Owed as a debt.
    • You must pay any outstanding corporate card balance immediately.
    • The distribution of the capital shall in the case of each loan be based on the capital amount outstanding at the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty.1923, Treaty of Lausanne

Meaning of outstand

Verb

outstand (third-person singular simple present outstands, present participle outstanding, simple past and past participle outstood)

  1. (archaic, transitive) To resist effectually; withstand; sustain without yielding.
    • Like Solomon's fool, he outstands all reproof.1658, John Spencer, Thomas Fuller, “CCCXXVI.—A sinful man is a senseless man.”, in ΚΑΙΝΑ ΚΑΙ ΠΑΛΑΙΑ[:] Things New and Old; or A Storehouse of Similes, Sentences, Allegories, Apophthegms, Apologues...
  2. (transitive) To surpass in standing; stand or remain beyond; outstay.
    • I have outstood my time, which is material / To the tender of our present.1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
  3. (intransitive) To project outward from the main body; stand out prominently; be prominent.
    • A lever connected to the cam outstands from the throat block, […]1971 August 17, Charles L. Welton, “Releasable Mooring Rope”, in Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office, volume 889, number 3
  4. (archaic, intransitive) To stand out to sea.
  5. (archaic, intransitive) To remain over; remain untouched, unimpaired, unsettled, uncollected, unpaid, or otherwise undetermined.
    • The Judge gave a judgment against the whole boat's crew, I being one of the men, for $30,000. Of course, we did not feel like paying it. I did not; it was none of my fault, but I happened to belong to the same boat, and it outstands there now.1883, Thomas J. Knight, “Testimony of Thomas J. Knight”, in Appendix to the Journals of the Senate and Assembly of the Twenty-Fifth Session of the Legislature of the State of California, volume III...

Synonyms of outstanding

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

Forms of outstanding

comparativemore outstanding
superlativemost outstanding

Origin of outstanding

From outstand, equivalent to out- + standing or outstand + -ing.

Words formed from outstanding

Words that rhyme with outstanding

Questions about outstanding

What does outstanding mean?
Outstanding means prominent or noticeable; sovereign.
What is outstanding the present participle and gerund of?
Outstanding is the present participle and gerund of outstand.
What part of speech is outstanding?
Outstanding is an adjective.
How do you pronounce outstanding?
Outstanding is pronounced /ˌaʊtˈstæn.dɪŋ/ (UK).

Words near outstanding in the dictionary

  1. outstables
  2. outstabling
  3. outstand
  4. outstander
  5. outstanders
  6. outstanding
  7. outstandingly
  8. outstandingness
  9. outstandings
  10. outstands
  11. outstank

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: outstanding (page history and authors); outstand (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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-outstanding.ogg.

Cite this entry: “outstanding.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/outstanding. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.