Meanings
plural misfits
- archaicAn ill-fitting garment.
Mr Toots’s legs shake under him; and though he is splendidly dressed, he feels misfits, and sees wrinkles, in the masterpieces of Burgess and Co., and wishes he had put on that brightest pair of boots.
1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC - A failure to fit well; unsuitability, disparity.
And the fact that Christianity's Jesus is the resurrected Christ makes a vital point about the misfit between the Jesus whose teachings we have excavated and the Church which came after him.
2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 94 - A badly adjusted person; someone unsuitable or set apart because of their habits, behaviour etc.
She was very unhappy in Iraq and a misfit in the Army.
3 more examples
Do you ever feel like a misfit? Everything inside you is dark and twisted Oh, but it's okay to be different 'Cause baby, so am I
2019, Amanda Koci, Henry Walter, Charlie Puth, Maria Smith, Victor Thellm Gigi Grombacher, Roland Spreckle, “So Am I”, performed by Ava MaxJust to be on the safe side, the Kremlin has also banned any of Putin's serious critics from standing. Three unelectable misfits have been allowed to mount token challenges.
2008, Adrian Blomfield, "Has Russia got a new Stalin?", Telegraph, 1 Mar 2008 ArticleThe MBA was a misfit when stuck in a meeting with the programmers.
present singular third person misfits · participle present misfitting · participle past misfitted · past misfitted
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*mey-?
- Proto-Indo-European*meyth₂-
- Proto-Germanic*missaz
- Proto-Germanic*missa-
- Proto-West Germanic*missa-
- Old Englishmis-
- Middle Englishmys-
- Englishmis-
- Middle Englishfit?
- Englishfit
- Englishmisfit
Translations
Bulgarian лошо скроена дреха, неудачност
- лошо скроена дреха (lošo skroena dreha)an ill-fitting garment
- неудачност (neudačnost)failure to fit well, unsuitability
- не подхождам (ne podhoždam)to fit badly
Catalan inadaptat, inadaptada
- inadaptata badly adjusted person
- inadaptadaa badly adjusted person
Chinese Mandarin 不適應環境的人 /不适应环境的人
- 不適應環境的人 /不适应环境的人 (bù shìyìng huánjìng de rén)a badly adjusted person
Czech nehodit se k, nepasovat
- nehodit se kto fit badly
- nepasovatto fit badly
Dutch onaangepaste
- onaangepastea badly adjusted person
Finnish huonosti sopiva vaate, sopeutumaton henkilö
- huonosti sopiva vaatean ill-fitting garment
- sopeutumaton henkilöa badly adjusted person
- sopia huonostito fit badly
French inadapté
- inadaptéa badly adjusted person
German Nichtangepasster, Nichtangepasste
- Nichtangepasstera badly adjusted person
- Nichtangepasstea badly adjusted person
- Sonderlinga badly adjusted person
- Aussenseitera badly adjusted person
- Unangepasstera badly adjusted person
- Außenseitera badly adjusted person
Greek απροσάρμοστος
- απροσάρμοστος (aprosármostos)a badly adjusted person
Indonesian orang canggung
- orang canggunga badly adjusted person
Italian inadatto, disadattato
- inadattoan ill-fitting garment
- disadattatoa badly adjusted person
Latvian baltā vārna, baltais zvirbulis
- baltā vārnaa badly adjusted person
- baltais zvirbulisa badly adjusted person
Lithuanian nepritapėlis, nepritapėlė
- nepritapėlisa badly adjusted person
- nepritapėlėa badly adjusted person
- netiktito fit badly
- nesiderintito fit badly
- nederėtito fit badly
Polish odmieniec
- odmienieca badly adjusted person
Portuguese esfarrapado, desajustado
- esfarrapadoan ill-fitting garment
- desajustadoa badly adjusted person
- encaixar malto fit badly
Punjabi ਕਜੋੜ
- ਕਜੋੜ (kajoṛ)failure to fit well, unsuitability
Russian пло́хо сидя́щая оде́жда, неприспосо́бившийся челове́к
- пло́хо сидя́щая оде́жда (plóxo sidjáščaja odéžda)an ill-fitting garment
- неприспосо́бившийся челове́к (neprisposóbivšijsja čelovék)a badly adjusted person
- неужи́вшийся челове́к (neužívšijsja čelovék)a badly adjusted person
- неуда́чник (neudáčnik)a badly adjusted person
- неуда́чница (neudáčnica)a badly adjusted person
- не подходи́ть (ne podxodítʹ)to fit badly
- пло́хо сиде́ть (plóxo sidétʹ)to fit badly
Spanish desajuste, desentono
- desajustefailure to fit well, unsuitability
- desentonofailure to fit well, unsuitability
- inadaptadoa badly adjusted person
- sentar malto fit badly
- encajar malto fit badly
- desentonarto fit badly
- desencajarto fit badly
Ukrainian невда́ха
- невда́ха (nevdáxa)a badly adjusted person
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with misfit
Cite this entry
misfit. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/misfit
“misfit.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/misfit. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “misfit,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/misfit.
Source: misfit on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.