round peg in a square hole
IdiomsExample Sentences
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A creative eccentric in a bureaucratic institution is always a round peg in a square hole, and Pete was no exception.
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2024
“Many of my peers regarded me as the round peg in a square hole, too different for GE. I was brutally honest and outspoken. I was impatient and, to many, abrasive.”
From Washington Post ● Mar. 2, 2020
"It was like putting a round peg in a square hole," he said.
From Time Magazine Archive
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In appointing Sir Kingsley, said Rebel Churchill, Mr. Chamberlain was "putting a round peg in a square hole."
From Time Magazine Archive
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Moreover, he was popularly credited with a strong native bias, which alone was sufficient to constitute him a round peg in a square hole, in a frontier magistracy such as Fort Lamport.
From A Veldt Vendetta by Bertram Mitford
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.