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English (UK)
Cambridge Dictionary Online

Meaning of outward in English

outward
adjective
uk
/ˈaʊt.wəd/ us
/ˈaʊt.wɚd/

outward adjective (ON OUTSIDE)

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[ before noun ]
relating to how people, situations, or things seem to be, rather than how they are inside:
outward appearance The outward appearance of the building has not changed at all in 200 years.
outward sign If he is suffering, he certainly shows no outward sign of it.
to all outward appearances To all outward appearances everything was fine, but under the surface the marriage was very shaky.
Opposite
inward (INSIDE)
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Seeming and purporting to be
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outward adjective (GOING AWAY)

away from the centre:
outward investment (= investment in other companies/countries)
outward-looking We have the chance to build an outward-looking Europe that lives up to its global responsibilities.
Opposite
inward (INSIDE)
[ before noun ]
going towards a particular place, rather than returning from it:
The outward flight/journey took eight hours.
Opposite
return (GOING BACK)
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
From, out and outside
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Related word

outwardly
outward
adverb
uk
/ˈaʊt.wəd/ us
/ˈaʊt.wɚd/
mainly US
→  outwards
Opposite
inward mainly US
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
From, out and outside
See more results »
(Definition of outward from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

outward | American Dictionary

outward
adjective [ not gradable ]
us
/ˈɑʊt·wərd/

outward adjective [not gradable] (SEEMING)

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relating to how people, situations, or things seem to be, rather than how they are inside:
There were no outward signs that she was injured.

outwardly

adverb [ not gradable ] us
/ˈɑʊt·wərd·li/
Outwardly, he seemed confident, but he was full of doubt.
outward
adverb [ not gradable ]
us
/ˈɑʊt·wərd/
(also outwards, us/ˈɑʊt·wərdz/)

outward adverb [not gradable] (AWAY FROM)

away from a particular place or toward the outside:
The door opens outward.
(Definition of outward from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

outward | Business English

outward
adjective [ before noun ]
uk
/ˈaʊtwəd/ us
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ECONOMICS
relating to money that is invested or spent in foreign countries, rather than in your own country :
Any such fall would drive the dollar even lower, triggering further outward capital flows.
Compare
inward
(Definition of outward from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of outward

outward
The outward current has a constant or slightly diminishing amplitude as the oocyte matures.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
These include a regenerative sodium current, the potassium inward rectifier, potassium delayed rectifier and transient outward potassium current, and several calcium currents.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Obtaining the elimination of restrictions on inward and outward foreign portfolio investment became the priority for the bolseros by the late 1980s.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
For fast-growing developing economies, greater outward-orientation holds promise in terms of growth and efficiency.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The periphery effect disappeared when the test spot was moved outward to 8-deg eccentricity.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The gongs are arranged in a circular configuration with each gong facing outward.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The numerical break-up of these cases occurred along these outward moving extremities as noted above.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The outward and inward iteration method18 is adopted to calculate the manipulator dynamics.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
At the same time, in public, he meticulously observed the various protocols that protected the outward forms of propriety.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
As a result, the sum of the inward and outward membrane currents decreases.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Flashes both at the tip and base produced stepped currents in the outward direction.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Can it be a means of transforming the actor's consciousness as well as his/her outward appearance?
From the Cambridge English Corpus
In the 20th century, curiosity and the outward urge took astrobiology and popular culture to infinity, and beyond.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
There is a concomitant increase in protein reserves which progresses in the same wave-like pattern outward from the cotyledon.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
On the contrary, osmotic outward pressure also caused by high genome confinement stabilizes phage particles against external deformations, as discussed immediately above.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
See all examples of outward
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
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Translations of outward

in Chinese (Traditional)
外面的, 外表的，外面的, 對外的…
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in Chinese (Simplified)
外面的, 外表的，外面的, 对外的…
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in Spanish
externo, hacia fuera, externo/na [masculine-feminine…
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in Portuguese
exterior, externo, para fora…
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in more languages
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in Catalan
in Dutch
in Czech
in Danish
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in Italian
外見上の, 外に向かって, 外面的（がいめんてき）な…
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dış, harici, dışa/dışına doğru…
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extérieur/-eure, apparent/-ente, tourné/-ée vers l’extérieur…
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extern, cap enfora…
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uiterlijk, heen-, uit-…
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vnější, směřující ven…
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ydre, udturen…
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lahiriah, berangkat…
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ด้านนอก, เดินทางจากไป…
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vẻ bên ngoàii, đi ra…
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zewnętrzny, widoczny, na zewnątrz…
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yttre, utvändig, ut[resa]…
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keluar, jauh dari…
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äußerlich, auswärts…
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ytre, utadrettet, utover…
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표면상의, 바깥쪽으로…
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зовнішній, поверхневий, спрямований назовні…
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esteriore, verso l’esterno, d’andata…
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outturn
outvote
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outvoting
outward
outward investment
outward-bound
outward-looking
outwardly

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