akilter

1 9.9

Tilted or not in the right position

adjective
/əˈkɪltər/

Archaic

: torcido

She noticed the picture frames akilter on the wall after the tremor.

Examples

The picture hung akilter on the wall.
My sense of time was akilter because of jet lag.
After the move, his entire routine felt akilter for weeks.
Her hat was placed akilter on her head.
The picture frames were all akilter after the earthquake, making the room look disordered.
His tie was akilter, giving him a slightly unkempt appearance for the meeting.
She adjusted the bookshelf because the books were stacked akilter and looked untidy.

Synonyms

askew

vsakilter

16 6.0

Not straight or level and turned to one side

also covers wrong order, imbalance, or feeling disoriented

off-kilter

vsakilter

Informal

8 7.5

Not straight or level and a little strange

stresses wrong position or order rather than odd character

wonky

vsakilter

6 7.7

Not steady or straight and likely to wobble

focuses more on being out of alignment or disoriented rather than unstable

awry

vsakilter

1 6.8

Not in the correct position and turned to one side

is wider, including imbalance or being out of order

unaligned

vsakilter

1 5.1

Not in agreement or not in a straight line with something else

adds physical imbalance and disorder, not just lack of agreement

agley

vsakilter

Archaic

1 9.9

Not straight or level, often tilted

is broader, covering misorder, imbalance, and general disorientation

Antonyms

straight

386 1.0

In a direct line without curves or bends

aligned

57 4.2

In agreement with a group or idea

How Aligned

straight

∞ 1.0

aligned

23 3.7

askew

16 6.0

akilter

Archaic

1 9.9

crooked

86 2.5

Surface Forms

akilter positive

Morphology

akilter = kilter (semi-transparent) = a + kilter + a

Formed from the prefix 'a-' plus the noun 'kilter' (working order); the parts are identifiable but the meaning 'askew' and the archaic/rare use of 'a-' make the derivation not fully obvious to learners.

Etymology

Akilter is made from the parts a- and kilter, and kilter means 'proper order', as in the phrase 'out of kilter'. So akilter means 'not in the right order' or 'askew'.