off-the-wall

[awf-th uh-wawl, of-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR off-the-wall ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective Informal.

markedly unconventional; bizarre; oddball: an unpredictable, off-the-wall personality.

Origin of off-the-wall

First recorded in 1970–75

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for off-the-wall

insane, crazy, stupid, incoherent, unreasonable, preposterous, unsound, wrong, ridiculous, absurd, unwise, foolish, aberrant, cordial, amiable, festive, buoyant, jolly, pleasant, good-natured

Examples from the Web for off-the-wall

Contemporary Examples of off-the-wall

Zentai originated in the 1980s in Japan, land of synthetic fibers and off-the-wall trends, and has recently begun migrating west.
Men Who Love Lycra
Will Doig
March 3, 2010

British Dictionary definitions for off-the-wall

off-the-wall

adjective

(off the wall when postpositive) slang new or unexpected in an unconventional or eccentric wayan off-the-wall approach to humour

Word Origin for off-the-wall

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

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