outskirts
The outer edges of a town or city, far from the centre.
outskirts in a sentence
- Their farm sat on the outskirts of town, where the streets gave way to green fields.
- The bus dropped us on the outskirts of the city, so we walked a long way to reach the centre.
Try an 11+ style question
Verbal reasoning papers often ask about a word like this.
Which word is closest in meaning to outskirts?
- Aedge
- Bcentre
- Cmiddle
- Dheart
Show the answer
A: edge. The other three mean the opposite of outskirts.
Which word is most nearly opposite in meaning to outskirts?
- Aedge
- Bcentre
- Cborder
- Dfringe
Show the answer
B: centre. The other three mean nearly the same as outskirts.
Words that mean something similar
edge, border, fringe
Words that mean the opposite
centre, heart, middle
More words about places & settings
- peril: The threat of serious danger.
- perilous: Very dangerous.
- picturesque: Pretty enough to be in a painting or on a postcard.
- precarious: Not safe or steady, and likely to fall or fail at any moment.
- quaint: Charming in an old-fashioned way.
- ravine: A deep, narrow valley with steep sides.
- reek: To smell very strongly and unpleasantly.
- refuge: A safe place to shelter from danger.
More words to explore
Sitting the 11+ in Kent, Medway or Buckinghamshire?
Plain-English guides to each test, from the councils’ own pages: Kent Test · Medway Test · Bucks Secondary Transfer Test