akilter

adjective akil·ter \ ə-ˈkil-tər \

Definition of akilter

: out of balance or alignment : off-kilter

His lackluster brown eyes were sunk in his skull and his right eye was slanted enough to look akilter and borrowed and slapdash.
—Ron Hansen, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, 1983

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Origin and Etymology of akilter

¹a- (perhaps taken as reduction of²off) +kilter

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1906

in the meaning defined above

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