feel out

1. Try cautiously or indirectly to ascertain someone's viewpoint or the nature of something. For example, We'd better feel out the author before we commit him to a publicity tour. This term alludes to physical groping. [Late 1800s] Also see take the pulse of.

Example Sentences

She feels out of her depth, and worse, that she has little to show for the student debt she has amassed.

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His screeching bigotry would feel out of place in her pastel-colored dreamland, where nothing interesting ever happens.

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He exudes charm with every gaze, and there isn’t one single line of dialogue that feels out of place or implausible.

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Aside from virality, he also thinks features like “listener counts” feel out of place.

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Luxury food becomes a bite-sized status signal in a world where traditional markers of adulthood feel out of reach.

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Related Words

• affect 
• disturb 
• excite 
• grab 
• impress 
• influence 
• inspire 
• mark 
• move 
• stir 
• strike 
• stroke 
• upset