Hyperforeign

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Exceptionally foreign, so unlike what is familiar that it seems strange or alien to the observer
2. Possessing an extreme degree of foreignness, markedly distant in manner, custom or origin from what is known locally
3. Describing something intensely outlandish or remote from ordinary experience because it belongs to a very different culture or place

Etymology: "Hyperforeign" is a modern coinage built from two parts: the Greek prefix "hyper-", meaning "over" or "beyond", and the English adjective "foreign". The combination signals not just that something is foreign, but that it is foreign to an extreme degree, so alien that it seems to belong to another world entirely. The hyphenated form "hyper-foreign" appears first in the 1930s, around 1933, and the closed spelling "hyperforeign" follows around 1983. The pattern follows older formations such as "hypercorrect" and "hypercorrection", where "hyper-" intensifies a base word into an excess of the quality it names.