fish out of water - Idioms - by the Free Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

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a fish out of water

someone who is uncomfortable in a particular situation. After living in Hong Kong for most of his life, Lee was a fish out of water in Los Angeles.

See also: fish, water

? References in classic literature
Dance stood there, as he said, "like a fish out of water," and all he could do was to dispatch a man to B---- to warn the cutter. Treasure Island by Stevenson, Robert Louis View in context Turovtsin--good, simple man--felt unmistakably a fish out of water, and the smile with which his thick lips greeted Stepan Arkadyevitch said, as plainly as words: "Well, old boy, you have popped me down in a learned set Anna Karenina by Tolstoy, Leo View in context My children, beware of popularity; it is a delusion and a snare; it puffeth up the heart of man, and especially of woman; it blindeth the eyes to faults; it exalteth unduly the humble powers of the victim; it is apt to be capricious, and just as one gets to liking the taste of this intoxicating draught, it suddenly faileth, and one is left gasping, like a fish out of water," and Kate emphasized her speech by spearing a sardine with a penknife, and eating it with a groan. An Old-Fashioned Girl by Alcott, Louisa May View in context More results

Dance stood there, as he said, "like a fish out of water," and all he could do was to dispatch a man to B---- to warn the cutter.

Treasure Island by Stevenson, Robert Louis View in context

Turovtsin--good, simple man--felt unmistakably a fish out of water, and the smile with which his thick lips greeted Stepan Arkadyevitch said, as plainly as words: "Well, old boy, you have popped me down in a learned set

Anna Karenina by Tolstoy, Leo View in context

My children, beware of popularity; it is a delusion and a snare; it puffeth up the heart of man, and especially of woman; it blindeth the eyes to faults; it exalteth unduly the humble powers of the victim; it is apt to be capricious, and just as one gets to liking the taste of this intoxicating draught, it suddenly faileth, and one is left gasping, like a fish out of water," and Kate emphasized her speech by spearing a sardine with a penknife, and eating it with a groan.

An Old-Fashioned Girl by Alcott, Louisa May View in context

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