off-kilter
"off-kilter" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“off-kilter” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Askew.
Corpus desk
Index EN-off-kilter · off-kilter · English
off-kilter · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "O" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | off-kilter |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “off-kilter” in English
Rare enough to double-check
off-kilter is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Askew.".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for off-kilter, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is off-kilter, spelled O-F-F---K-I-L-T-E-R.
Definition
- 1Askew.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how off-kilter appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
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.
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 […]
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.