out of kilter

Definition

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

Etymology

From out of + kilter, kelter (“good condition, form, or order; fettle”). The latter word is of uncertain origin, but appears widely in a British dialect and also in the United States.

Example Sentences

• "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."