coloured outside the lines
Broke the rules
Coloured outside the lines describes someone who deviated from expectations or refused to follow established rules—with a note of approval for the creativity or independence involved.
The image is of a child ignoring the boundaries in a colouring book: She always coloured outside the lines, which is probably why she ended up starting her own company.
The American spelling is *colored*.
- expressionismDistorting reality for emotion
- rebellionDefiance of established power
- defianceOpen resistance to authority
- boundary-pushingExceeding accepted limits
- imaginationFaculty for forming ideas
blank canvas · iconoclast · originality · unorthodox · maverick · improvisation · counterculture · free spirit · wild child · abstraction · experimentation · independence · individuality · ingenuity · rule-breaking · spontaneity · surrealism · vision
coloured outside the linestoed the line
Adhered to standards
colored inside the lines · conformed · fell in line · stayed in one's lane · played it safe
colour, coloured, coloring, colouring, colors, colours, colorful, colourful, colorless