out of kilter

Definitions

Askew, disturbed; not adjusted or working properly; out of order.

idiomatic

Equivalents

Examples

“I stayed up late to watch⟳ a movie, and my entire sleeping schedule⟳ has been out of kilter ever since.”

“Aye, ſquire, that thing [a statue of Hercules] has been fixt in this ſpot I warrant you theſe hundred years; it was ſadly out of kilter when I came to the eſtate, but I got my neighbour the conſtable, who is a carpenter, to make⟳ him that right arm, and put⟳ the ſtaff into it, for I could not bear⟳ to ſee ſuch a clumſy log⟳ as he had in it before; [...]”

“Wall, chilern, whar dar is so much racket dar must be somethin' out o' kilter. I thik dat 'twixt de niggers of de Souf and de womin at de Norf, all talkin' 'bout rights, de white men will be in a fix⟳ pretty soon.”

“[T]hey are either round-shouldered, knock-kneed, bow-legged, or parrot-toed; some are also badly cross-eyed. It seems as if they can see⟳ two different ways at the same time. Jack says they are lop-sided and out of kilter altogether.”

“[H]e lived on tinned tomatoes, beef embalmed and sourdough bread, / On rusty beans and bacon furred with mould; / His stomach’s out of kilter and his system full of lead⟳, / But it's over, and his poke is full of gold.”

“Snowstorms often knock⟳ the Government's Salt Lake radio range out of kilter.”

“This was a champion team out of kilter, stung by what was arguably an act of disrespect to their opponents, a failure to appreciate their threat and the fine planning of Carlos Osorio, and never really able to regain⟳ its balance.”

CEFR level