different between awesome vs outstanding

English

Etymology

From awe +? -some; compare Old English e?eful (“fearful; inspiring awe”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???s?m/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /??s.?m/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /??s.?m/

Adjective

awesome (comparative more awesome or awesomer, superlative most awesome or awesomest)

1. (dated) Causing awe or terror; inspiring wonder or excitement. [from 1590–1600.]

   Synonyms: awe-inspiring; see also Thesaurus:awesome
2. (colloquial) Excellent, exciting, remarkable.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:excellent

Usage notes

The oldest meaning of awesome is of “something which inspires awe”, but the word is now also a common slang expression. It was originally so used in the United States, where it had featured strikingly in the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora!, as used by Japan's Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto to describe the "awesome" industrial potential of the United States. Consequently, as the word popularly became an expression for anything superb, in its original meaning it has tended to be replaced by the related word, awe-inspiring.

The comparative and superlative forms awesomer and awesomest are generally regarded as nonstandard.

Antonyms

• aweless

Derived terms

• awesome sauce (slang)
• awesomely
• awesomeness
• awesomenessness (nonce word, rare, nonstandard)
• awesometastic

Related terms

• awe-inspiring
• awful

Translations

Noun

awesome (uncountable)

1. (slang) Short for awesomeness: the quality, state, or essence of being awesome.

   Synonym: (slang) awesome sauce

   Antonyms: (slang) fail, (vulgar) shit, (slang) weaksauce

   • 2011, Gwen Hayes, Let Me Call You Sweetheart, Samhain Publishing, Ltd. (2011), ?ISBN, page 6:

     Plus, her patent leather boots were made of awesome. They made her legs look longer and leaner.

   • 2011, Kevin Seccia, Punching Tom Hanks: Dropkicking Gorillas and Pummeling Zombified Ex-Presidents—A Guide to Beating Up Anything, St. Martin's Press (2011), ?ISBN, page 189:

     Swayze, of course, is the being of pure awesome who has by now conquered all of Heaven.

   • 2013, Carrie Jones, Captivate, Bloomsbury (2010), ?ISBN, page 150:

     “Your grandmother,” he mumbles into my hair as we cuddle on the couch, “is made of awesome.”

Further reading

• awesome (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

English

Etymology

From outstand, equivalent to out- +? standing.

Pronunciation

Verb

outstanding

1. present participle of outstand

Adjective

outstanding (comparative more outstanding, superlative most outstanding)

1. Prominent or noticeable; standing out from others.

   Synonyms: eminent, noteworthy; see also Thesaurus:notable

2. Exceptionally good; distinguished from others by its superiority.

   Synonyms: amazing, impressive; see also Thesaurus:awesome

   Antonym: mediocre
3. Projecting outwards.

   Synonyms: prominent, protuberant
4. Unresolved; not settled or finished.

   Synonyms: unfinished, unsettled, wide open

5. Owed as a debt.

   Synonyms: unpaid, unsettled

   • 1927-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai, Part I, Chapter xvi:

     I kept account of every farthing I spent, and my expenses were carefully calculated. Every little item such as omnibus fares or postage or a couple of coppers spent on newspapers, would be entered, and the balance struck every evening before going to bed. That habit has stayed with me ever since, and I know that as a result, though I have had to handle public funds amounting to lakhs, I have succeeded in exercising strict economy in their disbursement, and instead of outstanding debts have had invariably a surplus balance in respect of all the movements I have led. Let every youth take a leaf out of my book and make it a point to account for everything that comes into and goes out of his pocket, and like me he is sure to be a gainer in the end.

Derived terms

• outstandingly
• outstandingness

Related terms

• stand out
• stand-out

Translations

Anagrams

• standing out