cockeyed
Americanadjective
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having a squinting eye.
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twisted, tilted, or slanted to one side.
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Slang.
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foolish; absurd.
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intoxicated; drunk.
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completely wrong.
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adjective
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afflicted with cross-eye, squint, or any other visible abnormality of the eyes
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appearing to be physically or logically abnormal, absurd, etc; crooked; askew
cockeyed ideas
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drunk
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of cockeyed
Explanation
Something that's off-kilter, crooked, or strangely twisted is cockeyed. If the cockeyed pictures on your grandparents' wall drive you crazy, you may need to go around their house straightening them all. If your hat's on cockeyed, it's askew, leaning to one side, and if the lights on your friend's Christmas tree are cockeyed, they're drooping in a lopsided way. Something that doesn't make sense or isn't believable can also be called cockeyed: "Then he told this cockeyed story about having lunch with the President." In the 1920s and 30s, the word also meant "drunk." It started out, in the 19th century, meaning "squint-eyed."
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.
I’m enough of a cockeyed optimist to believe that exposure to different cultures, to ways of being in, looking at and talking about the world, can cure a person of prejudice.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 29, 2025
Mr. Braun, who appeared in the series “Succession,” is a good foot taller than his co-star, giving an amusing physical aspect to their cockeyed friendship.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 4, 2025
It’s the humans, though, that you’ll remember from the ground up: Adams’ camera-friendly energy and hard-won serenity; Keoghan’s cockeyed warmth, just this side of menacing; Rogowski’s strange, commanding woundedness.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 14, 2024
Likewise, the cockeyed view of these Texans, who sometimes, but not always, let other people get away with things, is endearing.
From Salon • Apr. 12, 2024
A prince hadn't a cockeyed notion how to fend for himself.
From "The Whipping Boy" by Sid Fleischman
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.
