outright

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English outright (“completely; straight onward”) (also outriȝt),^[2] a compound from English out + right.^[3][4][5][6] The OED analyses the second element as the suffix -right, as in downright.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Two adverb senses are both recorded about 1300 in the South English Legendary: "completely, openly, without holding back" and "straightaway, at once".^[7][2][3]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the adverb could also mean "in a straight line, directly out", a sense the OED records from about 1400 until 1849.^[7][2] The time sense "immediately" faded after the early 18th century,^[7] though Johnson (1755) still gave "immediately; without delay" as its first meaning, before "completely".^[8] From about 1600 it was used of a transaction completed at once and without conditions, as in buying something outright.^[7] The adjective appeared in 1532, in Thomas More, meaning "downright, out-and-out",^[7][4] and the sense "complete, unconditional" followed in 1845.^[7] In American baseball, outright has been a verb since 1966: to release a player unconditionally.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – adverb, completely, openly; also at once.^[7][2]
• c. 1400 – straight ahead, directly onward (obsolete).^[7]
• 1532 – adjective, downright, out-and-out.^[7][4]
• 1600 – of a sale, with ownership passing at once and without conditions.^[7]
• 1845 – adjective, complete, unconditional.^[7]
• 1966 – verb, to release a baseball player unconditionally.^[7]

Modern meaning

Adverb

1. Completely and entirely: the plan was rejected outright.
2. Openly, without holding back: she laughed outright.
3. At once, on the spot: the driver was killed outright.
4. Without conditions or further payments owing: they own the farm outright.

Adjective

1. Complete, total, out-and-out: an outright fabrication.
2. Without reservation or conditions; unconditional: an outright grant.

Word family

• outrightly
• outrightness

Related words

• downright
• forthright
• upright

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.