idiom · neutral
think outside the box
UK/θɪŋk ˈaʊtsaɪd ðə bɒks/US/θɪŋk ˈaʊtsaɪd ðə bɑːks/think·OUT·side·the·BOX
to think creatively in an original or unusual way
Examples
“To solve this problem we need to think outside the box.”
“The company encourages employees to think outside the box when designing new products.”
“She always thinks outside the box and brings fresh ideas to meetings.”
Band 8 sentence
“Faced with budget constraints, the team had to think outside the box and repurpose existing resources to meet the project's objectives.”
Collocations
- think outside the box to solve
- encourage staff to think outside the box
Common mistakes
think outside box→think outside the box
think outside of the box→think outside the box
Say it for a higher band
5be creative→6come up with new ideas→7+think outside the box
Synonyms
be creative
innovate
Easily confused
be creative
“We need creative solutions if we want to stand out in the market.”
Related words
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In Work
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