misfit
Americanverb (used with or without object)
noun
-
something that fits badly, such as a garment that is too large or too small.
-
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.
noun
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a person not suited in behaviour or attitude to a particular social environment
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something that does not fit or fits badly
verb
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of misfit
Explanation
A person who just can't seem to fit in, no matter how hard they try, is called a misfit. If all of your friends are great dancers, but you are awkward and uncoordinated with no sense of rhythm, you might feel like a misfit. Often, people who are misfits as kids eventually find other misfits to be friends with: suddenly, because they've found a group that accepts them and makes them feel comfortable; they're not misfits anymore. In the early nineteenth century, the word misfit meant "a garment that fits badly," but by the end of the 1800s it had come to primarily mean "outcast" or "oddball." The fit in both cases is wrong, thus the prefix mis-, or "wrong."
Vocabulary lists containing misfit
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: mis-
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mis-
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Employed but adrift, he seeks out Franca, a former girlfriend and fellow misfit in their school days.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 26, 2026
Segar’s misfit cast: As ever, Popeye is a muscle-bound mumbler and Olive Oyl an elastic lass.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026
"It became the perfect medium to express this feeling of being a misfit," she says.
From BBC • May 15, 2026
After a more than three-year absence, it’s the beginning of the end for Netflix’s hit series, which has endeared gaggle of misfit kids to us and become a cultural touchstone.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 25, 2025
“It is illogical to say he is a misfit just because he chooses to ride a different animal, provided he can carry out his cowboy duties.”
From "Fish in a Tree" by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
