out of one's depth
In water so deep that one cannot stand and may be at risk of drowningIn water so deep that one cannot stand and may be at risk of drowning.
» Tom is out of his depth.
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
2 senses(literally)In water so deep that one cannot stand and may be at risk of drowning.
(figuratively, idiomatic)In a situation which one is poorly prepared or unprepared to handle.
The team's first game was against the league champions; they were out of their depth and knew it.
Examples
11 sentencesTom is out of his depth.
You're out of your depth here.
This may be out of my depth.
I was out of my depth in that debate.
Aren't you a little out of your depth, Tom?
Translations
2 languagesDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.