catawampus
Syllables: cat·a·wam·pusUS/ˌkætəˈwɑmpəs/
catawampus adjective: out of alignment, in disarray or disorder: crooked, askew.
Adjective (1)
catawampus (comparative more catawampus, superlative most catawampus)
- Out of alignment, in disarray or disorder: crooked, askew.
- "Waal, I noticed ez the aidge o' one o' them boards war sot sorter catawampus, ...".1885, Charles Egbert Craddock, Down the Ravine
- "Remember when Justin missed the T in the software code and tanked the reports for the client. What a catawampus that was.".(Can we date this quote?), (Please provide the book title or journal name)
- Synonyms:
- askew, awry, crooked, off-kilter, sigogglin, skewampus, skiwampus, destructive, fierce
Adverb
catawampus (comparative more catawampus, superlative most catawampus)
Noun
catawampus (plural catawampuses)
- A fierce imaginary animal.
- But speaking scientifickly, the wowser is a cross
Between the cattywampus and and the dry-land albatross
With parts of grizzly bear throwed in, and just enough of 'coon
To give him rings around his tail, like rings around the moon.1968, Squire Omar Barker, Rawhide Rhymes: Singing Poems of the Old West, page 10
- But speaking scientifickly, the wowser is a cross
Adjective (2)
catawampus (comparative more catawampus, superlative most catawampus)
- Fierce, destructive.
- There air some catawampous chawers in the small way too, as graze upon a human pretty strong; but don't mind them, they're company.1844, Charles Dickens, chapter 21, in The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit
catawampus meaning in Tamil
catawampus in Tamil
- கொடு விலங்கு
Synonyms of catawampus
Forms of catawampus
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more catawampus |
| superlative | most catawampus |
| alternative form | catawampous |
| alternative form | catawamptious |
| alternative form | cattywampus |
| alternative form | cattywampous |
| alternative form | kittywampus |
| alternative form | kittywumpus |
| alternative form | caddywompus |
| alternative form | caliwampus |
| alternative form | caliwampous |
| alternative form | cankywampus |
| Adverb | |
| comparative | more catawampus |
| superlative | most catawampus |
| Noun | |
| plural | catawampuses |
Origin of catawampus
The first part may be related to cater-corner. The second part may be related to wampish (“wriggle, twist about like a fish”).
Perhaps from catamount (“cougar, puma, lynx”), influenced by the adjective above.
Words formed from catawampus
Questions about catawampus
- What does catawampus mean?
- Catawampus means out of alignment, in disarray or disorder: crooked, askew.
- What is catawampus in Tamil?
- Catawampus in Tamil is கொடு விலங்கு. See Catawampus meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is catawampus?
- Catawampus can be an adjective, an adverb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce catawampus?
- Catawampus is pronounced /ˌkætəˈwɑmpəs/ (US).
Words near catawampus in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: catawampus (page history and authors); catawampus (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-catawampus.wav.
Cite this entry: “catawampus.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/catawampus. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.