adjective
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leaning or inclined to one side
-
greater in weight, height, or size on one side
Other Word Forms
- lopsidedly adverb
- lopsidedness noun
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.
The results were lopsided: 67% to 17% in favor of Palestinians.
From Salon • Mar. 27, 2026
Every loss is a tragedy but this is by any measure a massively lopsided contest.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026
It was USC’s most lopsided loss under coach Lindsay Gottlieb.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 1, 2026
"With Webb's sensitivity, we can trace how energy moves upward through the planet's atmosphere and even see the influence of its lopsided magnetic field."
From Science Daily • Feb. 21, 2026
One set of shutters was missing and the other hung lopsided, like the whole house had been smacked catawampus.
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
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.
