outdoorsy

outdoorsy

English

WOTD – 15 July 2016

Baobab trees (Adansonia) in a forest in Madagascar

Etymology

outdoors +‎ -y.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /aʊtˈdɔːzi/

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• (General American) IPA^(key): /aʊtˈdɔɹzi/
• Hyphenation: out‧doors‧y

Adjective

outdoorsy (comparative outdoorsier, superlative outdoorsiest)

1. (informal) Associated with the outdoors, or suited to outdoor life.
   • 1978 December, Patrick F. McManus, “The Gift”, in Field & Stream, volume LXXXIII, number 8, New York, N.Y.: CBS Publications, OCLC 64226494, page 88:

     Whenever the kids ask my wife what to get Ol' Whosis for Christmas, she tells them, "You know how he loves outdoor sports. Why don't you get him something outdoorsy?" […] Let me state here that there should be a law prohibiting any person who uses the term "outdoorsy" from dispensing advice about what kinds of presents to buy an outdoorsman. A few years ago, after my spouse advised her I would like something outdoorsy, one of my aunts gave me something called The Ultimate Fishing Machine.

   • 1992 April, David James Duncan, The Brothers K, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, ISBN 978-0-385-24003-1; republished New York, N.Y.: Dial Press, June 2005, ISBN 978-0-553-37849-8, page 487:

     Fly-fishing is on the brink of becoming to ex-hipsters what golf has been to the World War Two-ers. 'Cause think about it. It's cheaper, it's outdoorsier, it's less exclusive, it's less bourgeois.

   • 2015, Janet Marthers; Paul Marthers, Follow Your Interests to Find the Right College, Tucson, Ariz.: Wheatmark, →ISBN, page 202:

     Some colleges, due to their location and campus atmosphere, attract students interested in outdoor adventure activities, such as rock climbing, camping, hiking, white-water rafting, kayaking, mountain biking, sailing, and skiing. Students at outdoorsy colleges tend to be hearty types who can't wait to go outside for the next nature-oriented activity. Outdoorsy colleges are frequently located close to national parks, wilderness areas, and ski resorts. Some of the nation's best ski teams are found at outdoorsy colleges, […] Some outdoorsy colleges have special off-campus facilities and programs that get students out into the wilds.

2. (informal) Fond of the outdoors.
   • 1954, “Press and Radio Coverage of the A.G.M.”, in Industrial Canada, volume 55, Toronto: Canadian Manufacturers' Association, OCLC 1681421, page 82:

     This room is high and wide and 71 feet long and when a dozen typewriters are lined up a reasonable distance apart in a room that size not even the outdoorsiest of the Fourth Estate could suggest that he was suffering from claustrophobia.

   • 1960, Esquire, volume 53, New York, N.Y.: Esquire Publishing, OCLC 471078322, page 184:

     Fall, though, is a time to be outdoors, at least part of the time, and you can be outdoorsier easier in Switzerland then than almost any place we know.

   • 1996, Galen Crane, “Gear without Fear”, in Adirondack Life, volume 27–28, Keene, N.Y.: Adirondack Life, OCLC 1983651, page 4:

     Of the Adirondackers who make their homes here and then rarely use them—the outdoorsiest of the outdoorspeople—some climb mountains, others cliffs; some push pedals, other paddles; […]

   • 2009, Tracey Marley, Promise for Tomorrow: A Novel (Heritage House Series; I), Mustang, Okla.: Tate Publishing & Enterprises, →ISBN, page 224:

     "There's nothing wrong with outdoorsy women," he said, pausing to let his eyes fall down the length of her body as if he were re-evaluating his first judgment. "You're just not one of them. Efficient maybe, but not outdoorsy."

   • 2012 August, Maria Semple, Where'd You Go, Bernadette: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Little, Brown & Company, →ISBN:

     Let's say I'm at the playground with my daughter. I'm bleary-eyed, pushing her on the swings, and one swing over there's an outdoorsy father – because fathers only come in one style here, and that's outdoorsy.

   • 2019 December, The Guardian, Family finds owl in Christmas tree after a week: 'He was hugging the trunk'

     “It was surreal, but we weren’t really freaked out about it,” McBride Newman said. “We’re really outdoorsy people. We love the wilderness.”

Translations

associated with the outdoors, or suited to outdoor life

German: naturverbunden, naturorientiert, Natur-, Frischluft-

fond of the outdoors

German: naturverbunden, naturliebend, frischluftliebend