outside of

prep

"outside-of" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“outside of” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a preposition. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Outside.

Corpus desk

Index EN-outside-of · outside of · English

outside of · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "O" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for outside of
PropertyValue
Headwordoutside of
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechPreposition
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “outside of” in English

outside offalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

outside of is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as apreposition. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for outside of, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is outside of, spelled O-U-T-S-I-D-E- -O-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    Outside.
  2. 2
    Aside from; besides.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how outside of appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. It never happens outside of the story-books that a baby so deserted finds home and friends at once.
  2. 'Don't think of what's past!' said she. 'I am not going to think outside of now. Why should we! Who knows what to-morrow has in store?'

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "outside of"?
"outside of" is spelled O-U-T-S-I-D-E- -O-F.
What does "outside of" mean?
As a preposition, "outside of" means: Outside.
What language does "outside of" come from?
"outside of" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list