think outside the box
Americanidiom
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.
Let’s think outside the box on the Iran nuclear issue.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026
But people on the spectrum "think outside the box" he said, and "can contribute in so many different ways than other people would."
From Barron's • Oct. 24, 2025
Or is it more creatively freeing to think outside the box?
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2024
The ones he didn’t like are the ones I like the most, because he really had to think outside the box for them.
From New York Times • Feb. 11, 2024
“Great leaders have to think outside the box sometimes.”
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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.
