off-kilter

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off-kilter (comparative more off-kilter, superlative most off-kilter)

1. (idiomatic) Askew.
   • 2014, Marie Ferrarella, Her Forever Cowboy, Harlequin, →ISBN, page 61:

     On second thought, she reconsidered, looking up into Murphy's eyes; maybe he was a little off-kilter. Just off-kilter enough to want her to live up to that ridiculous term he'd given her—or else.

   • 2015, Adilifu Nama, Race on the QT: Blackness and the Films of Quentin Tarantino, University of Texas Press, →ISBN, page 26:

     Up to this point, True Romance has the makings of a gritty, off-kilter, romance movie meets road movie. This strikingly changes, not in direction (because the film is a gritty, off-kilter, romance movie meets road movie) but in symbolism, semiotics […]

   • 2015, Sabrina Jeffries, If the Viscount Falls, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 74:

     “Do forgive me, Mrs. Patch.” He was generally much better at questioning people, at reading what would upset them or make them reveal their secrets. But this situation had thrown him entirely off-kilter.

• out of kilter