misfit

[mis-fit, mis-fit, mis-fit, mis-fit]

verb (used with or without object)

misfitted, misfitting 

1. to fit badly.

noun

1. something that fits badly, such as a garment that is too large or too small.

2. a person who is not suited or is unable to adjust to the circumstances of a particular situation.

   She was a misfit in that job after her big promotion.

misfit

noun

1. a person not suited in behaviour or attitude to a particular social environment

2. something that does not fit or fits badly

verb

1. to fail to fit or be fitted

Word History and Origins

Origin of misfit¹

First recorded in 1815–25; mis- ¹ + fit ¹

Example Sentences

Are these resourceful misfits the right people to join if you want to survive the apocalypse?

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Meanwhile, the squad is composed of misfits, hotheads, third-year “seniors” and even a narcoleptic tumbler with a solid split.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"They're all misfits like me. Like all of us. We feel we never belong. We feel self-hatred. All of us are the same. I'm not alone."

Read more on BBC

In a 2022 memoir, “It’s Not Where You Start… It’s Where You Finish,” Brown recalled feeling like a misfit in her small town.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Like Clarence in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” Gabriel is a bit of a woebegone misfit in a long coat who needs assistance from the humans he is supposed to be assisting.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• bohemian 
• dissenter 
• dropout 
• eccentric 
• freak 
• oddball 
• outsider 
• weirdo