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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Bud, Not Buddy
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Stargirl
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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.
But those quotas would be far from sufficient and risk being lopsided, warned Simon Michel, head of medical technology company Ypsomed, which makes injection systems for diabetes.
From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026
A lopsided rally has left the market dangerously dependent on hot tech and AI-linked names.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 2, 2026
The UK is a long, thin country that excels in the service sector, and connecting these sources of growth would lever in investment and create agglomeration effects that would help rebalance Britain's lopsided economy,
From BBC ● May 19, 2026
The country’s export machine continues to hum but its economic growth has become increasingly lopsided.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
A large, lopsided blue cake is on the kitchen table, candles already burned halfway down during the long, blindfolded walk.
From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson
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.
