off-center
Americanadjective
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not centered; diverging from the exact center.
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unconventional; eccentric.
off-center characters who disrupt other people's lives.
Etymology
Origin of off-center
First recorded in 1925–30
Explanation
Off-center things aren't in the exact middle. The part in your hair may be off-center, and so may be your political leanings. The meaning of off-center is fairly obvious: not right in the center, but off to one side. It's frustrating to watch a movie that's projected off-center, and if you're very particular, it might drive you crazy to see a knocker that's off-center on your friend's front door. This adjective also means "a little weird" or "eccentric." An off-center sense of humor is wacky and strange, and if you're feeling off-center, you might be coming down with the flu.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Rubin's wide, deep surveys will reveal a much larger sample of tidal disruption events than current observatories are capable of collecting, including ones that are off-center," Carney said.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026
It’s about the fact that the Lotus’s polar axis runs exactly through the driver’s inboard hip, so that the machine rotates around them and not some invisible pivot point, just off-center.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
The complex’s opaque tower is clad in cream-colored concrete panels, stepping rhythmically with protruding windows that drift off-center.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 5, 2025
Physicists can adjust the cylinder’s resonant frequency, trying to match and amplify the tiny radio signal from any axions, by repositioning one or two off-center tuning rods.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 20, 2024
Short pants, tube socks, and Reeboks would have been a little off-center but not weird.
From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
