out in left field
Far from reality
Out in left field describes someone or something eccentric, unconventional, or completely off-base.
The phrase comes from baseball, where left field is distant from the main action at home plate.
Someone whose ideas are out in left field is detached from reality or mainstream thinking: His proposal to solve the budget crisis was way out in left field.
Often shortened to just left field: That question came from left field.
- off the wallStrangely unconventional in nature
- curveballPitch with spin-induced arc
- fly ballBatted ball aloft
- absent-mindednessPreoccupied inattention to surroundings
- head in the cloudsAbsorbed in fantasy
offbeat · eccentricity · foul ball · off base · off the mark · surrealism · unorthodox · out of bounds · quirky · absurdity · off-center · peculiar · nonconformity · daydreaming · spaced out · out to lunch · out of touch · dadaism
out in left fieldon target
Accurately directed or predicted
on the mark · spot-on · right on the money · on point · spot on
out in left fieldmainstream
Dominant cultural current
conventional · orthodox · normal · middle-of-the-road · down the middle
out in left fieldgrounded
Stable and realistic
down-to-earth · level-headed · clear-headed · lucid · with it
left, field, outing, outings, outer, outermost, lefts, leftist, leftward