out of one's element
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Uncomfortable or ineffective in a particular situation
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Không thoải mái hoặc không hiệu quả trong tình huống cụ thể
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: not in one's natural environment
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
She's a great singer, but public speaking puts her out of her element
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “out of one's element” mean?
Uncomfortable or ineffective in a particular situation Literally: not in one's natural environment
Is “out of one's element” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.