Catawampus

//ˌkætəˈwɑmpəs// adj, adv, noun

adj, adv, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A fierce imaginary animal, a bogeyman. US
Adjective
  1. 1
    Out of alignment, in disarray or disorder: crooked, askew. US

    ""Waal, I noticed ez the aidge o' one o' them boards war sot sorter catawampus, ..."."

  2. 2
    Fierce, destructive. US

    "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."

Adverb
  1. 1
    Diagonally. US
  2. 2
    Utterly. US

Synonyms

All synonyms
askewaskewawrycattywampuscrookeddestructive

Example

More examples

""Waal, I noticed ez the aidge o' one o' them boards war sot sorter catawampus, ..."."

Etymology

Etymology 1

The first part may be related to cater-corner. The second part may be related to wampish (“wriggle, twist about like a fish”).

Etymology 2

Perhaps from catamount (“cougar, puma, lynx”), influenced by the adjective above.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.