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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

out of place en · ADP

Pronunciation

  • audio AuE
  • /ˌaʊ̯t əv ˈpleɪ̯s/ (Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
  • out′ əv plās′
  • /ˌæɔ̯t əv ˈplæɪ̯s/ (Australia)
  • /ˌawʈ ov ˈpleːs/ (India)
  • /ˌæʊ̯t əv ˈplæɪ̯s/ (New-Zealand)
  • /ˌʌʊ̯t əv ˈples/ (Scotland)

Etymology

From out of (preposition) + place (“a fitting position”, noun).

Meanings

  1. (idiomatic) Not in the proper arrangement or situation.
    • She came in out of the storm with not a hair out of place.
    • Amongst all those horsey people I felt quite out of place.
    • A Servant out of Place 1802, The Spirit of the Public Journals, volume 5, James Ridgway, page v:
    • Watch me dance, dance the night away (uh-huh) I'll still keep the party runnin', not one hair out of place 2023 May 25, Dua Lipa, Caroline Ailin, Andrew Wyatt, Mark Ronson, “Dance the Night”, in Barbie the Album, performed by Dua Lipa:
    • A garden smoothly laid with turf, divided by thick hedges, with raised beds of bright flowers, such as we keep within walls in England, would have been out of place upon the side of this bare hill. 1915, Virginia Woolf, chapter VII, in The Voyage Out, London: Duckworth & Co., […], →OCLC, page 105:
    • No wonder I couldn’t find it—it was out of place.
  2. (idiomatic) Inappropriate for the circumstances.
    • All this was extraordinarily distasteful to Churchill. […] Never before had he felt such repulsion when the vicar displayed his characteristic bluntness or coarseness of speech. In the present connexion—or rather as a transition from the subject that started their conversation—such talk had been distressingly out of place. 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXIV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, pages 198–199:
    • That remark was out of place.
    • [Marcus] Rashford showed the fearless streak [Gareth] Southgate so admires with his constant willingness to run at Brazil's defence with pace, even demonstrating on occasion footwork that would not have been out of place from members of England's illustrious opposition. 2017 November 14, Phil McNulty, “International Friendlies: England 0 – 0 Brazil”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 27 Feb 2023:
    • [H]e ſo ſtudied with wordes & ſaynges brought furth ſo out of time & place to make ſporte and moue laughter, yͭ he himſelf was oftener laughed at thẽ his ieſtes were. [1551, Thomas More, “The Fyrste Boke of the Communycacion of Raphaell Hythlodaye Concernynge the Best State of a Commen Wealthe”, in Raphe Robynson [i.e., Ralph Robinson], transl., A Fruteful, and Pleasaunt Worke of the Best State of a Publyque Weale, and of the Newe Yle Called Utopia: […], London: […] [Steven Mierdman for] Abraham Vele, […], →OCLC, signatures E.i., verso – E.ii., recto:
    • Bare lyes vvith bold affections they can face, / But dint of argument is out of place. 1687, [John Dryden], “The Third Part”, in The Hind and the Panther. A Poem, in Three Parts, 2nd edition, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC, page 84:
    • Near-synonym: atopic

Antonyms

appropriate · in keeping with · in place · seemly

Deriveds

out-of-place · out-of-placeness

Synonyms

out of keeping with · atopic · dystopic · dislocated · unseemly · ectopic · malpositioned · heterotopic · misplaced

Translations (24)

de fehl am Platz (not in the proper arrangement or situation) · ru невпопа́д (not in the proper arrangement or situation) · it spaesato (not in the proper arrangement or situation) · ru не к ме́сту (not in the proper arrangement or situation) · bg неуместен (not in the proper arrangement or situation) · is passar ekki (not in the proper arrangement or situation) · pl nie na miejscu (not in the proper arrangement or situation) · pt fora do lugar (not in the proper arrangement or situation) · ar فِي غَيْرِ مَحَلِّهِ (not in the proper arrangement or situation) · fr déplacé (not in the proper arrangement or situation) · es fuera de lugar (inappropriate for the circumstances) · ru некста́ти (not in the proper arrangement or situation) · az yersiz (not in the proper arrangement or situation) · fi poissa paikaltaan (not in the proper arrangement or situation) · gl fóra de lugar (not in the proper arrangement or situation) · sv på tok (not in the proper arrangement or situation) · fi sopimaton (not in the proper arrangement or situation) · mk неу́месен (not in the proper arrangement or situation) · fi poissa paikoiltaan (not in the proper arrangement or situation) · pt deslocado (not in the proper arrangement or situation) · fi poissa tolaltaan (not in the proper arrangement or situation) · ja 場違い (not in the proper arrangement or situation) · it disambientato (not in the proper arrangement or situation) · es fuera de lugar (not in the proper arrangement or situation)