stick out like a sore thumb
"stick-out-like-a-sore-thumb" is a 22-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“stick out like a sore thumb” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 27
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - 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...
Corpus desk
Index EN-stick-out-like-a-sore-th · stick out like a sore thumb · English
stick out like a sore thumb · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 27 letters
- VOW-9 9 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "S" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | stick out like a sore thumb |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 27 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “stick out like a sore thumb” in English
Rare enough to double-check
stick out like a sore thumb is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "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...".
No generated misspelling entries exist for stick out like a sore thumb in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is stick out like a sore thumb, spelled S-T-I-C-K- -O-U-T- -L-I-K-E- -A- -S-O-R-E- -T-H-U-M-B.
Definition
- 1To 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.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how stick out like a sore thumb appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
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 rather smart, I worry that something so Mediterranean will s…
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.