ˈout-of-the-ˈway, adj. phr.
[The advb. phrase out of the way (see out of prep. phr. III and way n.), used attrib.]
A. adj. phr.
1. Remote from any great highway or frequented route; remote from any centre of population, unfrequented, secluded.
| [1483 Cath. Angl. 264/2 Oute of way, auius, deuius.] 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xii, Nobody would think of building one in such an out-of-the-way place. 1838 Dickens O. Twist xlii, The very out-of-the-wayest house I can set eyes on. 1866 N. & Q. 3rd Ser. IX. 437/2 The original nautical tradition is still preserved by out-of-the-way people. |
2. Seldom met with, unusual, far-fetched; hence, extraordinary, odd, peculiar, remarkable, outré.
| 1704 N. N. tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. II. To Rdr., A short Collection of the Polite out of the way Expressions, which are to be met with in their Half Sheet Specimen. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 296 ¶7 My out-of-the-way Capers, and some original Grimaces. 1782 F. Burney Lett. 15 Oct., I know you love to hear particulars of all out-of-the-way persons. 1808 Scott Autobiog. in Lockhart i, Surprise at the quantity of out-of-the-way knowledge which I displayed. 1886 J. K. Jerome Idle Thoughts (1889) 63 To hit upon an especially novel, out-of-the-way subject. |
3. Departing from the proper path; devious.
| a 1732 T. Boston Crook in Lot (1805) 11 There is..nothing more apt to occasion out-of-the-way steps. 1825 Brockett N.C. Gloss., Out o' the way,..wayward. |
Hence ˌout-of-the-ˈwayness.
| 1800 Coleridge Unpubl. Lett., to J. P. Estlin (1884) 81 My own subtleties..lead me into strange..transient out-of-the-waynesses. 1887 Ruskin Præterita II. ii. 61 My father and mother's quiet out-of-the-wayness at first interested, soon pleased, and at last won them. 1899 Kipling From Sea to Sea I. xii. 307 It [sc. Kobé, in Japan] lives among hills, but the hills are all scalped, and the general impression is of out-of-the-wayness. 1926 S. T. Warner Lolly Willowes ii. 129 There's not such another village in Buckinghamshire for out-of-the-way⁓ness. |
B. as adv. Oddly; exceptionally, extraordinarily.
| 1717 S. Centlivre Bold Stroke for Wife i. i, The most whimsical, out-of-the-way tempered man I ever heard of. 1901 ‘M. Franklin’ My Brilliant Career x. 80, I really believe that on that night I did not look out of the way ugly. 1928 E. M. Forster in Life to Come (1972) 105 He was completely sincere when he told the Trevor Donaldsons that he had had an out-of-the-way pleasant weekend. 1939 ― in Ibid. 118 If only he wasn't so handsome, so out-of-the-way handsome. |
C. as n. A remote spot, an out-of-the-way place.
| 1971 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 7 Nov. 13/4 Colorful people who lived at these out-of-the-ways on the west..coast. |