Meaning of out of character | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Inconsistent with someone's personality, disposition, or usual expected behaviour.
   idiomatic
2. Not in character; not in the zone; not successfully performing within the mindset of a given character in a theatrical performance.
   idiomatic
3. Not acting; not "on"; behaving within one's natural personality rather than that of a character, or taking actions entirely outside the fictional context.
   idiomatic

Equivalents

Examples

“The burst of anger was out of character for the normally placid boy.”

“In “Treehouse Of Horror” episodes, the rules aren’t just different—they don’t even exist. If writers want Homer to kill Flanders or for a segment to end with a marriage between a woman and a giant ape, they can do so without worrying about continuity or consistency or fans griping that the gang is behaving out of character.”

“Now, that, admittedly, did do an awful lot more damage (the 5th and 6th were almost completely wiped out), but the High Seas Fleet was, in turn, almost completely wiped out (in fact, basically was wiped out, to a man) by the oncoming rest of the British Grand Fleet, and it was decided by everybody that this kind of, like, suicidal, completely suicidal, charge was probably a bit out of character for Hipper, and so we didn't take that particular one into account.”

“I was out of character for most of the first act because those people in the third row wouldn't stop chatting.”

“After watching him perform so energetically, it is a bit of a trip to hang out with him when he's out of character. In real life, he's really mellow.”

“Susan asked the GM, out of character, whether she was able to sense magic in the room.”

“The comedian stepped out of character to mug directly to the audience.”

CEFR level