outback

outback — noun

1. the large, dry region in the middle of Australia where very few people live, con

1.nounB2
Definition

the large, dry region in the middle of Australia where very few people live, consisting mainly of desert plains and wild bushland

Example

Eitan spent three weeks driving through the Australian outback in an old jeep.

collocation: drive through / travel through the outback

During the dry winter months, the outback's red dust covers everything in towns like Broken Hill.

collocation: the outback's [noun] — possessive form

Common collocations
  • the outback
  • the Australian outback
  • live in the outback
  • travel through the outback
  • deep into the outback
  • outback town
  • outback station
Synonyms
  • the bush

    wider term that can include wooded areas; more commonly used in Australian and New Zealand English

  • the interior

    more general term for the inland part of any country, not specifically Australian

  • the wilderness

    emphasises untouched natural environment; can apply anywhere

Antonyms
  • the coast

    the populated coastal areas of Australia, contrasting with the inland outback

  • the city

    urban areas, representing the opposite of the remote outback

Grammar Patterns

the outback

Usage Note

Always used with the definite article the. The term refers exclusively to the interior of Australia, not to wilderness areas in other countries.

Common Mistakes

My family moved to outback when I was young.
My family moved to the outback when I was young.
outback must always follow the.
The forests of northern Canada are a true outback.
The forests of northern Canada are true wilderness.
outback refers only to the Australian interior.

Word family

  • outbacker
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four terms describe sparsely populated natural areas, but they differ in geography and scope. The outback is strictly Australian — it refers to the remote, arid inland of the continent. The bush is also used in Australia (and New Zealand) but includes forested and coastal scrubland, not just desert. The interior is a neutral, general term for the inland part of any large landmass — you can speak of 'the interior of Brazil' but not 'the outback of Brazil'. Wilderness emphasises a place untouched by human development and can apply to any continent, from the Amazon rainforest to the Siberian taiga. For learners: if you mean the red-dirt desert heart of Australia, use the outback. If you mean any remote natural area worldwide, use wilderness.

the outbackthe bushthe interiorthe wilderness

Common collocations

Nouns

  • outback town
  • outback station
  • outback landscape
  • outback road
  • outback guide

Phrases

  • the Australian outback
  • the heart of the outback
  • life in the outback
  • deep in the outback

Prepositions

  • in the outback
  • through the outback
  • into the outback
  • across the outback

Etymology

EnglishAustralian English

Outback was formed by combining the adverb out with the noun back, capturing the idea of 'the back country' — the area out behind the settled coastal regions. The word first appeared in Australian English in the late 19th century, when colonists pushed inland from the coast and began referring to the remote interior as 'the out back' (two words). By the early 1900s it had fused into the single word outback and become a distinctive part of Australian vocabulary.