stick out like a sore thumb, to

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.

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?

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.

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.”