stick out like a sore thumb

Related to stick out like a sore thumb: all thumbs

stick out like a sore thumb

To be very conspicuous. I grew up in California, so when I moved to Minnesota, I stuck out like a sore thumb. Unfortunately the cover will need to be redesigned. The error in the image sticks out like a sore thumb.
See also: like, out, sore, stick, thumb
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

stick out like a sore thumb

Fig. to be very obvious. That pimple really sticks out like a sore thumb. Do you think I would stick out like a sore thumb at the party if I wear this coat?
See also: like, out, sore, stick, thumb
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

stick out like a sore thumb

or

stand out like a sore thumb

If someone or something sticks out like a sore thumb or stands out like a sore thumb, they are very noticeable because they are very different from the other people or things around them. Foreigners are at greater risk of robbery because they are more wealthy and they stick out like a sore thumb. We should ask ourselves: `Does the new housing stick out like a sore thumb or blend into its surroundings?' I much prefer to wear a proper suit, but fear that I will stand out like a sore thumb.
See also: like, out, sore, stick, thumb
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

stand/stick out like a sore ˈthumb

(informal) be very obvious or noticeable in an unpleasant way: He’s going to stick out like a sore thumb if he doesn’t wear a suit to the wedding. OPPOSITE: merge into the background
See also: like, out, sore, stand, stick, thumb
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

stick out like a sore thumb

in. to be very obvious. Do you think I would stick out like a sore thumb at the party if I wear this coat?
See also: like, out, sore, stick, thumb
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

stick out like a sore thumb, to

To be very conspicuous. This simile is extremely apt, as anyone who has ever injured a thumb will testify. One tends to hold the injured finger stiffly, and, since it opposes the rest anyhow, it tends to stand out, thereby risking more bumps and bruises. Dating from the early twentieth century, it appears in print in Erle Stanley Gardner’s The Case of the Sleepwalker’s Niece (1936): “That’s the one thing in the case that stands out like a sore thumb.”
See also: like, out, sore, stick
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • stick out like a sore thumb, to
  • stand out like a sore thumb
  • stand/stick out like a sore thumb
  • stick out a mile
  • stand/stick out a mile
  • stand out a mile
  • bite (one's) thumb at
  • sore
  • a rule of thumb
  • rule of thumb
References in periodicals archive
But the galvanized metal flashings and plastic vent pipes that poke through them stick out like a sore thumb. ARFCO has developed a two-piece colored flashing that helps these vents blend in with your shingles.
Not-quite-so-ugly plumbing vents
That, he tells you, would stick out like a sore thumb in subsequent periods.
Follow fraud to the likely perp
A group of local residents, including Brian Grazer and TV producer Roger Gimbel, has banded together to fight the proposed five-story building, which they say would stick out like a sore thumb and hurt property values in their low-key but upscale neighborhood.
Locals say nay to Spielberg
"If you join us and you don't fit into our culture, you really do stick out like a sore thumb, so we spend a lot of time and effort assessing the cultural fit," says Southwest's Sartain.
Lifetime hire
But Sommer also just lets some things stick out like a sore thumb - or a sore severed head - which is what he did in the chicken-parts pictures, my personal favorites.
"Photographs, drawings, and collages by Frederick Sommer."
"It will stick out like a sore thumb. It is five metres in front of the building line.
Shop extension plan is granted the go-ahead despite residents'protests