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Definition 2024


sore-thumbish

sore-thumbish

English

Adjective

sore-thumbish (comparative more sore-thumbish, superlative most sore-thumbish)

  1. (idiomatic) Distinct in a way that draws negative attention; out of place; conspicuous.
    • 1989, Plays and Players, Issue 425, page 37:
      Many of the serious bits, by contrast, were slow and sore-thumbish, abounding in what the New Yorker used to call cries we doubt ever got cried, like 'that man Robespierre will go far.'
    • 2004, Paul McFedries, Word Spy: The Word Lover's Guide to Modern Culture, Broadway Books (2004), ISBN 9780767918077, unnumbered page:
      In a neighborhood of modest bungalows, tearing down an existing house and shoehorning a multistory, 5,000-square-foot behemoth into the same lot makes the new home stick out in a sore-thumbish way.
    • 2007, Sonya Sones, What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (2007), ISBN 9780689876028, page 77:
      It looks so what-am-I-doing-here?,
      so sore-thumbish, so entirely out of place,
      among all these ancient ivy-covered buildings,
      that it kind of reminds me of a UFO.
      Or of an alien.
    • For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:sore-thumbish.