Word.ws English Dictionary

stick out like a sore thumb

stick out like a sore thumb verb: to be very noticeably (and undesirably or humorously) different; to be prominently out of place; to be particularly obtrusive or conspicuous (usually unintentionally); to attract unwanted attention or notice.

stick out like a sore thumb: to be very noticeably (and undesirably or humorously) different; to be prominently out of place; to...
Image: David Hawgood, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Verb

stick out like a sore thumb (third-person singular simple present sticks out like a sore thumb, present participle sticking out like a sore thumb, simple past and past participle stuck out like a sore thumb)

  1. (simile) To be very noticeably (and undesirably or humorously) different; to be prominently out of place; to be particularly obtrusive or conspicuous (usually unintentionally); to attract unwanted attention or notice.
    • Don't wear a business suit to that party; you'll stick out like a sore thumb.
    • The parsnip, stilton and chestnut combination may taste good, but it's not terribly decorative. In fact, dull's the word, a lingering adjectival ghost of nut roasts past that I'm keen to banish from the table. Mary Berry wraps her version in strips of chargrilled aubergine but, although it looks...2011 December 15, Felicity Cloake, “How to cook the perfect nut roast”, in The Guardian
    Antonyms:
    belong, blend in, fit, fit in

Synonyms of stick out like a sore thumb

Antonyms

Forms of stick out like a sore thumb

third-person singular presentsticks out like a sore thumb
present participlesticking out like a sore thumb
past participlestuck out like a sore thumb
paststuck out like a sore thumb

Words formed from stick out like a sore thumb

Questions about stick out like a sore thumb

What does stick out like a sore thumb mean?
Stick out like a sore thumb means to be very noticeably (and undesirably or humorously) different; to be prominently out of place; to be particularly obtrusive or conspicuous (usually unintentionally); to attract unwanted attention or notice.
What part of speech is stick out like a sore thumb?
Stick out like a sore thumb is a verb.
What is the past tense of stick out like a sore thumb?
The past tense of stick out like a sore thumb is stuck out like a sore thumb.

Words near stick out like a sore thumb in the dictionary

  1. stick one's nose into
  2. stick one's oar in
  3. stick one's tongue out
  4. stick out
  5. stick out a mile
  6. stick out like a sore thumb
  7. stick out like dog's balls
  8. stick out one's tongue
  9. stick phone
  10. stick phones
  11. stick plaster

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: stick out like a sore thumb (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-stick out like a sore thumb.ogg.

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