Word.ws English Dictionary

the nail that sticks up gets hammered down

the nail that sticks up gets hammered down is the alternative form of the nail that sticks out gets hammered down.

Meaning of the nail that sticks out gets hammered down

Proverb

the nail that sticks out gets hammered down

  1. (idiomatic) Those who are too different or conspicuous get criticized or sanctioned by others.

Questions about the nail that sticks up gets hammered down

What is the nail that sticks up gets hammered down the alternative form of?
The nail that sticks up gets hammered down is the alternative form of the nail that sticks out gets hammered down.

Words near the nail that sticks up gets hammered down in the dictionary

  1. the more the merrier
  2. the more things change, the more they stay the same
  3. the more you know
  4. the more you know, the higher you go
  5. the nail that sticks out gets hammered down
  6. the nail that sticks up gets hammered down
  7. the natives are getting restless
  8. the natives are restless
  9. the nerve of
  10. The Netherlands
  11. the new black

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: the nail that sticks up gets hammered down (page history and authors); the nail that sticks out gets hammered down (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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