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Glite Dictionary
off keel

off keel

7.7
Not steady in your body or feelings
  • idiom
  • /ɔf kiːl/
translation icon : desestabilizado
  • After the long flight, I felt completely off keel for hours.

Examples

  • The old boat was listing badly and seemed off keel on the water.

  • The unexpected news left him emotionally off keel.

  • She feels off keel.

  • Don't be off keel!

  • After the long flight, I felt completely off keel, struggling to regain my focus and balance.

  • The unexpected news left him feeling emotionally off keel, causing him to make impulsive decisions.

  • When her plans fell through, she was off keel, unable to settle down or concentrate on anything.

Synonyms

off balance
vsoff keel
34 4.0

Feeling unsteady in body or mind after something sudden

is a more general unsteady state not limited to sudden causes
unbalanced
vsoff keel
14 3.8

Not steady in position, health, or feeling

is more emotional and unsettled rather than just lacking equilibrium
off-kilter
vsoff keel
  • Informal
7 7.5

Not straight or level and a little strange

is mainly about instability or unsteadiness, not quirky oddness

Antonyms

stable
473 2.3

Not likely to change and stays steady over time

to steady
41 3.4

To make yourself or something stop moving

How Balanced

balanced
101 1.0
unstable
80 4.4
off keel
7.7
unsteady
16 3.3
unsettled
22 4.2

Surface Forms

off keel positive

Morphology

off + keel

The meaning 'not stable or balanced' is derivable from combining 'off' (not in a normal state) with 'keel' (the part of a ship that provides balance), but this depends on recognizing a nautical metaphor and the specialized sense of 'keel'. Because the link is metaphorical and 'keel' is not a high-frequency, general noun, a B1 learner who knows the words may only partially infer the meaning—physical unsteadiness is somewhat predictable but the emotional/figurative extension is not—so it is not fully transparent.

Etymology

Off keel comes from old boats. The keel is the long piece under a boat that keeps it steady, so when a boat is 'off keel' it leans and is unsteady, and that picture explains why we call people or things 'not stable or balanced'.