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
Super Bowl Blowout: Epic Vocab for the Big Game
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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.
The Chargers have beaten the Jets five times in a row, true, but those games were played over the past 14 seasons so those lopsided numbers aren’t relevant to this matchup.
From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2026
This time around, the agreement was so lopsided that at least one city, Chicago, withdrew during the bidding.
From Salon • Apr. 30, 2026
Platner is dusting Mills by lopsided margins in polling averages.
From Slate • Apr. 18, 2026
Further from the battlefield, though, the picture is less lopsided, particularly in Europe.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026
Then she heads for our tiny kitchen, skipping in her lopsided way.
From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko
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.
