catty-cornered

American  

[kat-ee-kawr-nerd] / ˈkæt iˌkɔr nərd /

Also catty-corner

adjective

Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S.

1. cater-cornered.

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catty-cornered British  

adjective

1. a variant of cater-cornered

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Etymology

Origin of catty-cornered

An Americanism dating back to 1830–40

Example Sentences

To speed up pedestrian movement on downtown street corners, Barnes set traffic lights to stop all automobiles dead for an interval and instructed people on foot to hustle across intersections, catty-cornered if they wished.

From Time Magazine Archive

His boat skedaddled up to a rock, hit it catty-cornered, and spun, and Abel was suddenly in the water, without his boat, borne along like a limp rag.

From "Abel's Island" by William Steig

When you leave the grocery, if you walk catty-cornered across the grass-grown lot, threading your way among the great rusty pipes thrown out of the canneries, you will see a path worn in the weeds.

From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck