square peg in a round hole

Idioms  

1. Also, round peg in a square hole. A misfit, especially a person unsuited for a position or activity. For example, Ruth doesn't have the finesse for this job; she's a round peg in a square hole. This idiom, with its graphic image of something that cannot fit, dates from about 1800.

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Example Sentences

I don’t know exactly what that might look like, but it does feel like a little bit of a square peg in a round hole the way we’re trying to deal with it right now.

From Slate • Mar. 11, 2024

“I keep coming back to this fear that we’re trying to put a square peg in a round hole here.”

From Washington Times • Apr. 19, 2023

Long: If it ever feels too much like work — like I’m trying to shove a square peg in a round hole — I’ll just be like, next.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 9, 2022

It was a square peg in a round hole for weeks and resulted in ugly losses at Alabama and LSU.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 21, 2021

He did not get strong again until it was too late for college, and he was a square peg in a round hole all his life, as he used to tell us.

From Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1902 to 1903 by Montgomery, L. M. (Lucy Maud)