off-kilter
Slightly out of alignment
Off-kilter means out of balance, askew, or not quite right.
Something physically off-kilter tilts or leans when it shouldn't: The picture frame hung off-kilter.
More often the word describes things that feel slightly wrong or unconventional: His off-kilter sense of humor took some getting used to.
The kilter in the phrase, meaning proper condition or order, appears almost nowhere else in modern English.
Unequally balanced
awry · slanted · cockeyed · listing · leaning · uneven · misaligned · asymmetrical
Unconventional in character
- offbeatPleasantly strange or unusual
- unconventionalDeparting from standard practice
- idiosyncraticDistinctively individual in nature
- whimsicalPlayfully fanciful or erratic
kooky · zany · peculiar · odd · bohemian · avant-garde · outlandish · funky
Causing unease or confusion
- unnervingCausing loss of composure
- jarringDisturbingly incongruous
- disquietingCausing unease or worry
- disturbingCausing mental unease
disorienting · unsettling · troubling · discomfiting · bewildering · perplexing · confounding · eerie
Sensation of spinning
- lightheadedFaint and unsteady feeling
- woozyDizzy and confused
- unsteadyLacking balance or stability
- vertiginousInducing a spinning sensation
reeling · staggering · swaying · tipsy · groggy · dazed · befuddled · muddled
lopsided
Unequally balanced
skewed · awry · slanted · cockeyed · listing · leaning · uneven · misaligned · asymmetrical · wonky
eccentric
Unconventional in character
- offbeatPleasantly strange or unusual
- unconventionalDeparting from standard practice
- idiosyncraticDistinctively individual in nature
whimsical · kooky · zany · peculiar · odd · bohemian · avant-garde · outlandish · funky · original
disconcerting
Causing unease or confusion
- unnervingCausing loss of composure
- jarringDisturbingly incongruous
- disquietingCausing unease or worry
disturbing · disorienting · unsettling · troubling · discomfiting · bewildering · perplexing · confounding · eerie · uncanny
dizzy
Sensation of spinning
- lightheadedFaint and unsteady feeling
- woozyDizzy and confused
- unsteadyLacking balance or stability
vertiginous · reeling · staggering · swaying · tipsy · groggy · dazed · befuddled · muddled · foggy
- crookedcrooked, askew, awry, lopsided, skewed
- imbalanceimbalance, disequilibrium, disproportion, asymmetry, lopsidedness
- stabilitystable, steady, firmness, unstable, equilibrium
- distortedwarped, twisted, bent, contorted, crooked
- misalignmentmisaligned, misalignment, displaced, crooked, skew
- disorderchaos, chaotic, disarray, mess, disordered