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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

out of character en · ADP

Pronunciation

Meanings

  1. (idiomatic) Inconsistent with someone's personality, disposition, or usual expected behaviour.
    • The burst of anger was out of character for the normally placid boy.
    • In “Treehouse Of Horror” episodes, the rules aren’t just different—they don’t even exist. If writers want Homer to kill Flanders or for a segment to end with a marriage between a woman and a giant ape, they can do so without worrying about continuity or consistency or fans griping that the gang is behaving out of character. 2012 April 29, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Treehouse of Horror III” (season 4, episode 5; originally aired 10/29/1992)”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):
    • Now, that, admittedly, did do an awful lot more damage (the 5th and 6th were almost completely wiped out), but the High Seas Fleet was, in turn, almost completely wiped out (in fact, basically was wiped out, to a man) by the oncoming rest of the British Grand Fleet, and it was decided by everybody that this kind of, like, suicidal, completely suicidal, charge was probably a bit out of character for Hipper, and so we didn't take that particular one into account. 2018 October 17, Drachinifel, 33:41 from the start, in Last Ride of the High Seas Fleet - Battle of Texel 1918, archived from the original on 04 Aug 2022:
  2. (idiomatic) Not in character; not in the zone; not successfully performing within the mindset of a given character in a theatrical performance.
    • I was out of character for most of the first act because those people in the third row wouldn't stop chatting.
  3. (idiomatic, qualifier:roleplaying games) Not acting; not "on"; behaving within one's natural personality rather than that of a character, or taking actions entirely outside the fictional context.
    • After watching him perform so energetically, it is a bit of a trip to hang out with him when he's out of character. In real life, he's really mellow.
    • Susan asked the GM, out of character, whether she was able to sense magic in the room.
    • The comedian stepped out of character to mug directly to the audience.

Antonyms

in character

Relateds

uncharacteristic · break character · drop character

Translations (8)

az xas olmayan (inconsistent with someone's personality, disposition, or usual expected behaviour) · fi ei luonteenomainen (inconsistent with someone's personality, disposition, or usual expected behaviour) · cmn 出戲 /出戏 (inconsistent with someone's personality, disposition, or usual expected behaviour) · pl nietypowy (inconsistent with someone's personality, disposition, or usual expected behaviour) · fr inhabituel de la part de quelqu'un (inconsistent with someone's personality, disposition, or usual expected behaviour) · mi haraki (inconsistent with someone's personality, disposition, or usual expected behaviour) · fr qui ne correspond pas à quelqu'un (inconsistent with someone's personality, disposition, or usual expected behaviour) · ru несво́йственно (inconsistent with someone's personality, disposition, or usual expected behaviour)