on the nose

His choice of decor was on the nose, considering the theme of the party.

Boy, are those people getting bargains. Let's see . . . the child population is just about average for the city, on the nose.

1961, Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, New York: Random House, page 10

“I think the part of me that is sensible, the part that's most on the nose about making decisions about how and what to write, is the part which wants to continue working toward the Turgenev model in fiction. Which is simply based on the idea that novels have to be extremely efficient to survive.[…]”

1979, Toby Thompson, The '60s Report, Rawson, Wade, →ISBN, page 239

In the last three or four years of the series, with the active and very enthusiastic support of the producers and writers, we did go much more on the nose with political issues.

1995 August 22, Donna Minkowitz, quoting Patrick Stewart, “A New Enterprise”, in The Advocate, number 687/688, →ISSN, page 76

[Lawrence:] [At the audition,] it was me and five or six women with the large breasts, the short skirts, the hair and makeup. They were just much more on the nose, in terms of what someone who was sexually voracious would look like. I was in a sweater and slacks, hiding the sexuality.

1997 September, Jill Daniel, quoting Sharon Lawrence, “The Metamorph”, in Orange Coast, →ISSN, page 37

Susan: Barbara, I really like these red Christmas bulbs. Barbara: You think next year we should do the whole Christmas tree in them? Susan: Don't you think that's a bit on the nose?

1974, Joseph Walsh, California Split

Although the show gradually grows more subtle, much of the early writing that establishes the characters is so on the nose it hurts. Any time we see Walt in class, it’s certain that what he writes on the chalkboard will echo events in his secret life.

2013 August 12, Stephen Bowie, “The case against Breaking Bad”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 25 Aug 2013

The song is sumptuously introspective, but on first impression it's a bit too on the nose.

2013 August 19, Marc Hogan, “The Weeknd and Drake ‘Live For’ Whining About Success”, in SPIN

[…]these days there is a long tradition of ships named Warspite, most famously the Queen Elizabeth-class battleship, but when you actually look at the etymology of the name, it is literally "war's spite", the spite of war, which, again, is, um, a little bit on the nose for a ship full of nuclear death.

2021 June 23, Drachinifel, 56:59 from the start, in The Drydock - Episode 150, archived from the original on 05 Nov 2022

And even in ordinary times, conspicuous consumption violates the principle of detachment. New Money signals lack plausible deniability; they're too much on the nose.

2022, W. David Marx, chapter 5, in Status and Culture, Viking, →ISBN

Now the process has been reversed; it is doubtful if there has ever been a time when politicians and politics have been more on the nose than the period of the first Fraser government, and this is not only unfunny, but unhealthy.

1977, Mungo MacCallum, Mungo's Canberra, University of Queensland Press, →ISBN, page 198

Dog was so stupid he didn't realise the man was very on the nose. Larry smelt good to him, most times, ripe and earthy.

2004, Wendy Jane Evans, “An Independent Cuss”, in The Diggings Are Silent, Interactive Publications, published 2007, →ISBN, page 94

Conservatism was on the nose with voters and if Liberals were to regain government, the party must swing smoothly to the left on a range of social issues.

2008 November, Janet Albrechtsen, “Romanticising Australian Conservatism”, in Eric Beecher, editor, The Best Australian Political Writing 2009, Melbourne University Publishing, published 2009, →ISBN, page 236

I once knew a fag dip into the till—not the whole two thousand at once on the nose win or Sing Sing.[…]

1962 [1959], William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch, New York: Grove Press, page 128