sore-thumbish

9.9

Looks out of place and stands out among similar things

adjective

Informal

: fuera de lugar

She always felt sore-thumbish at fancy parties in her casual clothes.

Examples

The bright yellow house looked sore-thumbish among the rows of brick buildings.
His bright orange shirt looked sore-thumbish at the formal event.
His mismatched tie was sore-thumbish during the formal business meeting.
The sore-thumbish design of the building stood out among the classic architecture.
His mismatched tie was sore-thumbish during the formal business meeting.
The bright yellow house looked sore-thumbish among the rows of brick buildings.
She always felt sore-thumbish at fancy parties in her casual clothes.

Synonyms

out of place

vssore-thumbish

63 3.5

Feeling uncomfortable because you do not belong in a place or situation

is about standing out awkwardly and attracting unwelcome attention

obtrusive

vssore-thumbish

4 7.2

Noticeable in a way that attracts unwanted attention

is more about feeling awkward and not fitting in quietly

Antonyms

unnoticeable

2 4.6

Hard to see or notice

How Conspicuous

blatant

96 4.5

sore-thumbish

Informal

9.9

conspicuous

55 5.1

odd

798 1.0

unusual

∞ 2.2

Surface Forms

sore-thumbish positive

Morphology

sore-thumbish = sore + thumb (semi-transparent) = sore + thumb + ish

The adjective is formed by adding '-ish' to the idiomatic phrase 'sore thumb'; the derivation is clear but the idiomatic sense 'conspicuous' depends on knowing the phrase.

Etymology

Sore-thumbish comes from the idea of a sore thumb, as in the saying 'stick out like a sore thumb', where a hurt thumb is easy to see because it looks wrong. So sore-thumbish means something clearly 'out of place' or awkward among other things.