Catawampous

/kætəˈwɑmpəs/ adjective

Definition

Something that is askew, diagonal, or positioned in an awkward or unexpected way; going against the natural or expected direction.

Etymology

American dialect origin, possibly from 'catamaran' or 'cataclysm' combined with 'wampus' (corruption of 'wampish'). It emerged in 19th-century American English as a vivid way to describe sideways or crooked positioning.

Kelly Says

This delightfully weird word survived in American dialects for over 150 years because it perfectly captures that feeling when something just looks *wrong*—tilted, backwards, or inside-out. Mark Twain and frontier writers loved using it.

Translations

AMአማርኛ
አይነት አይነት
ay-net ay-net
ARالعربية
مُشَابِع
mu-sha-bi-e
BNবাংলা
অস্বাভাবিক
os-wa-bha-abi-k
CACatalà
descontrolat
de-sko-n-tro-lat
CSČeština
zkroucený
zkrou-cen-y
DADansk
forvirrende
for-vir-ren-de
DEDeutsch
verwirrend
ver-vire-nd
ELΕλληνικά
παραμορφωμένος
pa-ra-mor-fo-men-os
ESEspañol
desequilibrado
des-e-ki-li-BRA-do
FAفارسی
نامنظم
na-man-ta-zam
FISuomi
sekaisin
se-ka-isin
FRFrançais
tordu
to-r-doo
GUGU
અસંગત
as-ang-tat
HAHA
ba'a
ba-a
HEעברית
מבולבל
me-vo-le-lel
HIहिन्दी
असंतुलित
as-an-tu-lit
HUMagyar
zavaros
za-va-ro-s
IDBahasa Indonesia
tidak seimbang
tidak se-im-bang
IGIG
asọpọ
a-so-po
ITItaliano
strano
stra-no
JA日本語
不規則
fuku-seki-ru
KKKK
қисық
ki-syq
KMKM
មិនស្ថិត
mi-n-s-thit
KO한국어
어긋난
eo-geut-nan
MRMR
असंगत
as-ang-tat
MSBahasa Melayu
tidak seimbang
tidak se-im-bang
MYမြန်မာ
အကျယ်အကျယ်
a-ky-e-a-ky-e
NLNederlands
verwarrend
ver-war-rend
NONorsk
forvirrende
for-vir-ren-de
PAPA
ਅਸંગત
as-ang-tat
PLPolski
niezrozumiały
nie-ro-zoo-m-ee-ly
PTPortuguês
desequilibrado
des-e-ki-li-BRA-do
RORomână
confuz
kon-fu-z
RUРусский
неправильный
ne-pra-vi-l-nyy
SVSvenska
svår att förstå
svawr att fo-r-sta
SWKiswahili
haina
hai-na
TAதமிழ்
சரியில்லாத
sa-ri-yil-la-atha
TEతెలుగు
వికৃతం
vi-kru-tham
THไทย
ไม่สม่ำเสมอ
mai-som-mao
TLTL
nakakapag-kamali
na-ka-ka-pa-ga-kam-ali
TRTürkçe
dengesiz
den-ge-siz
UKУкраїнська
змішаний
zmi-sha-nyy
URاردو
غلط
ghalat
VITiếng Việt
không ổn định
khong o-n dinh
YOYO
kààà
ka-a-a
ZH中文
歪斜的
wāi xié de
ZUZU
kufanele
ku-fa-ne-le

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