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View synonyms for off-the-wall

off-the-wall

[ awf-thuh-wawl, of- ]

adjective

Informal.
  1. markedly unconventional; bizarre; oddball:

    an unpredictable, off-the-wall personality.



off-the-wall

adjective

  1. slang.
    off the wall when postpositive new or unexpected in an unconventional or eccentric way

    an off-the-wall approach to humour

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of off-the-wall1

First recorded in 1970–75
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Word History and Origins

Origin of off-the-wall1

C20: possibly from the use of the phrase in handball and squash to describe a shot that is unexpected
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Idioms and Phrases

Eccentric, unconventional, as in That idea of opening a 100-seat theater is off the wall . This expression probably originated in baseball or some other sport in which the ball can bounce off a wall in an erratic way. [ Colloquial ; 1960s]

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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.

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