out of kilter

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^[1] and also in the United States.^[2]

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌaʊt əv ˈkɪltə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌaʊt əv ˈkɪltɚ/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: out of kil‧ter

out of kilter

1. (idiomatic) Askew, disturbed; not adjusted or working properly; out of order.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:out of order

   I stayed up late to watch a movie, and my entire sleeping schedule has been out of kilter ever since.

   • 1762, , “Presents the Reader with a Prospect of the Sullens”, in The Stage-coach: Containing the Character of Mr. Manly, and the History of His Fellow Travellers, Dublin: Printed by Henry Saunders , →OCLC, page 140:

     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; [...]

   • 1851 May 29, Sojourner Truth, reported by Frances D Gage, “Ohio [Reminiscences by Frances D. Gage. Sojourner Truth. [Ain’t I a Woman?]]”, in Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage, editors, History of Woman Suffrage. [...] In Three Volumes, volumes I (1848–1861), Rochester, N.Y., London: Susan B. Anthony; Charles Mann , published 1887, →OCLC, page 116:

     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.

   • 1890, Charles Erskine, chapter V, in Twenty Years before the Mast: , Boston, Mass.: Published by the author, →OCLC, page 72:

     hey are either round-shouldered, knock-kneed, bow-legged, or parrot-toed; some are also badly cross-eyed. It seems as if they can see two different ways at the same time. Jack says they are lop-sided and out of kilter altogether.

   • 1909, Robert W Service, “The Man from Eldorado”, in Ballads of a Cheechako, Toronto, Ont.: William Briggs, →OCLC, part I, stanza 2, page 71:

     e lived on tinned tomatoes, beef embalmed and sourdough bread, / On rusty beans and bacon furred with mould; / His stomach’s out of kilter and his system full of lead, / But it's over, and his poke is full of gold.

   • 1941 March 10, “An Airliner Cracks Up in Pine Woods near Atlanta and Seven People Die”, in Henry R Luce, editor, Life, volume 10, number 10, Chicago, Ill., New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, photograph caption, page 27:

     Snowstorms often knock the Government's Salt Lake radio range out of kilter.

   • 2018 June 17, Barney Ronay, “Mexico’s Hirving Lozano stuns world champions Germany for brilliant win”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 5 August 2019:

     This was a champion team out of kilter, stung by what was arguably an act of disrespect to their opponents, a failure to appreciate their threat and the fine planning of Carlos Osorio, and never really able to regain its balance.

• The term is often preceded by throw, as in “an impact can throw the adjustment out of kilter”.

• out of kelter

• off-kilter