open-air

open-air — adjective

1. used for a place or event that is outside and not covered by a roof

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

used for a place or event that is outside and not covered by a roof

Example

We bought peaches at the open-air market beside the train station.

collocation: open-air market

The town holds an open-air concert in the park every July.

collocation: open-air concert

Common collocations
  • open-air market
  • open-air concert
  • open-air cafe
  • open-air pool
  • open-air theatre
Synonyms
  • outdoor

    is the nearest everyday word and is often more common

  • outside

    is simpler but less natural before many nouns

  • alfresco

    is more formal and is used especially for eating outside

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

open-air market

open-air concert

open-air pool

Usage Note

Usually comes before nouns for places and events, especially market, concert, cafe, pool, theatre, and museum. Distinguish from phrase/1, which is the noun phrase open air, most often used after a preposition such as in.

Common Mistakes

We ate in an open-air.
We ate in the open air.' / 'We ate at an open-air cafe.
the hyphenated form is an adjective before a noun; the phrase sense is used as a noun phrase.
The concert was open air.
The concert was open-air.' / 'The concert was held in the open air.
keep the hyphen in the adjective form.

open-air — phrase

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

For adjective/1, open-air and outdoor are very close, and outdoor is the more usual everyday choice in many contexts. Open-air often feels slightly more descriptive and is common for public places or events, such as an open-air market or concert. Outside is simpler, but it is not as natural before many nouns. Alfresco is more formal and is used mainly for eating, drinking, or relaxing outside, especially in restaurants or travel writing. Roofless is narrower: it only tells you there is no roof, and it does not always suggest a normal outdoor activity. Compare: an outdoor pool is everyday, an open-air theatre sounds more specific, and alfresco dining is mainly about meals.

outdoor ↗outside ↗alfresco ↗roofless

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • open-air market
  • open-air concert
  • open-air theatre
  • sleep in the open air

Prepositions

  • in the open air

Etymology

English

Open-air is a modern English compound built from open and air. It first described places or events that happen outside without a roof, and the related phrase in the open air developed as a way to mean the outdoor space itself.