sore-thumbish

sore-thumbish

English

Etymology

sore thumb +‎ -ish; after the phrase stick out like a sore thumb.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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• Hyphenation: sore‧thumb‧ish

Adjective

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

1. (idiomatic, informal) Distinct in a way that draws negative attention; out of place; conspicuous.
   • 1989, Plays and Players, number 425, Hansom Books, 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, New York, N.Y.: Broadway Books, →ISBN:

     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, “Mom Drives Me over to Harvard Ten Minutes Early”, in What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, →ISBN, 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.