adjective
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leaning or inclined to one side
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greater in weight, height, or size on one side
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of lopsided
Explanation
Something that's lopsided is crooked or off-balance, like your grandma's lopsided hat, which sits askew on her head. You can use the adjective lopsided to describe things that are crooked or asymmetrical. A bad toothache might cause one side of your jaw to swell, leaving your face feeling — and looking — lopsided. You might say that your school's student council election is lopsided if one candidate is clearly more qualified than the other. The word lopsided was originally lapsided, and in the early 1700s it almost always referred to a tilting ship.
Vocabulary lists containing lopsided
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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.
Our first reaction was that the lack of a lopsided verdict meant that El-Sayed would have to work that much harder to bring the party together.
From Slate ● Aug. 8, 2026
As this “POV” entry tells us, it was more likely the advancement of pregnancy screenings, selective termination and even abandonment that led to the currently lopsided state of love.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026
On paper, it was a lopsided 4-2-4 or a 4-2-3-1.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
Dreyer had just surrendered his second home run of the inning, transforming a low-scoring battle into a lopsided White Sox advantage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2026
She was hurrying, panicky, wearing her wig, which she hardly wore these days, and she had hastily put it on because it was lopsided on her head.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
