square peg in a round hole

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Someone who does not fit in or is unsuited to a particular situation

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Người không phù hợp hoặc không thích hợp với một tình huống cụ thể

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: a peg that cannot fit into a round hole
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

She felt like a square peg in a round hole in her new job

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.

Equivalents & related

Lighter cards are two steps away in the meaning graph — equivalents of equivalents, reached via the entry shown on the card.

Common questions

What does “square peg in a round hole” mean?

Someone who does not fit in or is unsuited to a particular situation Literally: a peg that cannot fit into a round hole

Is “square peg in a round hole” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

What is the closest equivalent?

“râu ông nọ cắm cằm bà kia” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.