: an imaginary fierce wild animal : bogey.
askew; awry. positioned diagonally; cater-cornered. diagonally; obliquely: We took a shortcut and walked catawampus across the field.
Definition - askew, awry, kitty-corner. Cattywampus is a variant of catawampus, another example of grand 19th century American slang. In addition to “askew” catawampus may refer to “an imaginary fierce wild animal,” or may mean “savage, destructive.”
When it was first used in the U.S. around 1834 as an adverb, it meant “completely, utterly or avidly.” It first appeared as a noun (catawampus) in Dickens' Martin Chuzzlewit (1843), though it probably was first recorded as a noun in American works shortly before that.
This word sounds like something that belongs in Harry Potter, but catawampus (sometimes spelled cattywampus) is a fixture in everyday Southern speech. It describes something that's askew, awry, or diagonal, as in "we tried setting it up straight, but it ended up catawampus."
bum·fuz·zled ˈbəm-ˌfə-zəld. US, informal. : in a state of bewilderment : confused or perplexed. Elliott seemed a little bumfuzzled by the negativity, saying he had received a lot of offers of various kinds of help for the ballpark.
alteration of carfuffle, from Scots car- (probably from Scottish Gaelic cearr wrong, awkward) + fuffle to become disheveled.
Noun. ninnyhammer (plural ninnyhammers) a foolish person; a simpleton quotations ▼
going badly, awkwardly, or in the wrong direction: The script is spoiled by its catawampus rhythms and its lack of consistency and plausibility. I didn't need this, especially on a morning when everything else had already started out going cattywampus. Dear me, everything has gone catawampus with me this week.
snollygoster (plural snollygosters) (slang, obsolete) A shrewd person not guided by principles, especially a politician. quotations ▼
Perhaps being "whopper jawed" meant having a large jaw, which would be an unattractive look for a girl. Thus, it would be a way of saying "you look ugly".
intransitive verb. informal. : to fool around and waste time : dawdle. Stop lollygagging and get to work.
Meaning of kerfuffle in English
noise, excitement, and argument: Her glasses were broken in the kerfuffle. Synonyms. ballyhoo old-fashioned slang.
verb (used with object), bum·fuz·zled, bum·fuz·zling. Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. to confuse or fluster.
You will most commonly come across this wonderfully expressive word for a commotion or fuss in Britain and the British Commonwealth countries.
In both June and October of 2022, the editors of the tome have released their own lists of the most mispronounced words in the English language, which include such whoppers as “victuals,” “awry,” “epitome” and, yes, “acai.”
The word onomatopoeia is a jumble of vowels and is probably the most difficult English word to pronounce. It is pronounced [on-uh-mat-uh–pee–uh], and it defines a word that imitates a sound.
Noun. throttlebottom (plural throttlebottoms) (derogatory) An incompetent holder of a public office.
slubberdegullion (plural slubberdegullions) A filthy, slobbering person; a sloven, a villain, a fiend, a louse. A worthless person. A drunken or alcoholic person.
Noun. crapulence (countable and uncountable, plural crapulences) sickness or indisposition caused by excessive eating or drinking. intemperance; debauchery; excessive indulgence.
The American Heritage dictionary says that bumfuzzle, apparently used chiefly in the southern United States, means “to confuse,” and probably derives from some combination of “bamboozle,” “fuddle,” and “fuzzy.” The Random House Unabridged dictionary says the term first came into use around 1900 and agrees with the ...
a knife, especially one used as a weapon.
According to it, the English noun goes back to Hebrew Bal, allegedly contracted from Babel, and dabar. The “curiosity” consists in the fact that there is a German verb (aus)baldowern “to nose out a secret or some information” (aus– is a prefix), from the language of the underworld.