square peg in a round hole
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a square peg in a round hole
A person who does not fit in or is not comfortable with others or in a particular situation; someone who is unsuited to a certain task, position, situation, or group of people. It only took three months to realize I was a square peg in a round hole at the firm. I guess I just don't buy into the whole corporate hierarchy of modern business. John was a bit of a square peg in a round hole throughout high school, but when he went to college he found all sorts of people he could relate to.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
square peg in a round hole
Fig. someone who is uncomfortable or who does not belong in a particular situation. (Also the cliché: trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, trying to combine two things that do not belong or fit together.) I feel like a square peg in a round hole at my office. Everyone else there seems so ambitious, competitive, and dedicated to the work, but I just want to make a living. Trying to teach me math is like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. I'm convinced my brain is not built right to understand algebra.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
square peg in a round hole
Also, round peg in a square hole. A misfit, especially a person unsuited for a position or activity. For example, Ruth doesn't have the finesse for this job; she's a round peg in a square hole. This idiom, with its graphic image of something that cannot fit, dates from about 1800.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
square peg (in a round hole)
n. someone who does not fit in. I’m a square peg in a round hole. Maybe I am meant to be eccentric.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
square peg in a round hole
Informal A misfit.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
round peg in a square hole, a
A misfit, one not suited for the job or position at hand. This graphic image was being transferred to individuals unsuited for various tasks by 1800 or so. Occasionally it was (and still is) put the other way, a square peg in a round hole. Historian Albany Fonblanque used both (England under Seven Administrations, 1836): “Sir Robert Peel was a smooth round peg in a sharp-cornered square hole, and Lord Lyndhurst is a rectangular square-cut peg in a smooth round hole.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer
square peg in a round hole
A misfit. Its origin attributed to the 19th-century British philosopher and cleric Sydney Smith, the phrase has been used in a business context to describe someone who doesn't fit in to corporate culture, isn't a team player, and therefore stands little chance of corporate advancement.
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price Copyright © 2011 by Steven D. Price