Dictionary

fish out of water en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

* Earliest recorded uses: "fish out of the water" (1585, Lamentable Complaint of Commonality), "Fishes out of the Water" (1613, Samuel Purchas, Pilgrimage). * Earliest use of metaphor by Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales: Prologue (c. 1405) as "fissh þᵗ is waterlees". Compare also the antonymous French comme un poisson dans l'eau, German wie ein Fisch im Wasser.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) A person in unfamiliar and often uncomfortable surroundings.
   • “The basis of this show is fish out of water,” said the executive producer, Quincy Jones, the music impresario who has never before put his name on a television series but whose work as producer of Michael Jackson's albums won him respect in Hollywood as a canny judge of public tastes. 1990 September 17, Larry Rohter, quoting Quincy Jones, “‘Fresh Prince of Bel Air’ Puts Rap in Mainstream”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 21 Mar 2022:
   • Many stay-at-home fathers find that they are fish out of water, too. 2004 December 22, Jennifer Medina, “Housewives, Try This for Desperation”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 10 Mar 2022, retrieved 02 Oct 2016:
   • A pitcher at bat is usually considered such a fish out of water that he is expected to foul, ground or strike out. 1942 May 25, “Sport: Pitcher Hits Ball”, in TIME, archived from the original on 18 Oct 2025, retrieved 02 Oct 2016:
   • [I]nto this queer assembly, something of a fish out of water and wholly out of his element, strode Cherry Bim, that redoubtable man. 1921, Edgar Wallace, chapter 2, in The Book of All-Power:

Forms

Relateds

like a duck takes to water

Synonyms

square peg in a round hole

Translations (18)

bg риба на сухо (a person in unfamiliar, and often uncomfortable, surroundings) · af soos 'n vis op droë grond (a person in unfamiliar, and often uncomfortable, surroundings) · ca peix fora d'aigua (a person in unfamiliar, and often uncomfortable, surroundings) · pl dziecko we mgle (a person in unfamiliar, and often uncomfortable, surroundings) · it pesce fuor d'acqua (a person in unfamiliar, and often uncomfortable, surroundings) · ms seperti rusa masuk kampung (a person in unfamiliar, and often uncomfortable, surroundings) · de wie ein Fisch auf dem Trockenen (a person in unfamiliar, and often uncomfortable, surroundings) · de more usually sich fremd fühlen (a person in unfamiliar, and often uncomfortable, surroundings) · fi kuin kala kuivalla maalla (a person in unfamiliar, and often uncomfortable, surroundings) · ms bagai kerbau terkejut oleh gong (a person in unfamiliar, and often uncomfortable, surroundings) · pt como peixe fora d'água (a person in unfamiliar, and often uncomfortable, surroundings) · mt ħuta barra mill-ilma (a person in unfamiliar, and often uncomfortable, surroundings) · ja 陸に上がった河童 (a person in unfamiliar, and often uncomfortable, surroundings) · de sich nicht zu Hause fühlen (a person in unfamiliar, and often uncomfortable, surroundings) · es como pez fuera del agua (a person in unfamiliar, and often uncomfortable, surroundings) · de but less common (a person in unfamiliar, and often uncomfortable, surroundings) · ms tak pernah masuk gelanggang bergung (a person in unfamiliar, and often uncomfortable, surroundings) · eo fiŝo ekster akvo (a person in unfamiliar, and often uncomfortable, surroundings)