out of joint

Idioms  

1. Dislocated, as in Trying to break his fall, he put his shoulder out of joint . [Late 1300s]

2. See nose out of joint .

3. Out of order, inauspicious or unsatisfactory, as in The entire lineup of our team is out of joint . Shakespeare had this term in Hamlet (1:5): “The time is out of joint.” [Early 1400s]

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Example Sentences

ANSWER: We do vital research that shows the potential harms of online platforms, and we know that that puts the noses out of joint for some very powerful people.

From Barron's

“Nobody’s got their nose out of joint.”

From The Wall Street Journal

It isn't just among the fly-halves that England have people out of position and noses out of joint.

From BBC

“That was terrible,” he began, “but actually, and I actually told the Emir, this was one of the things that brought us all together, because it was so out of joint that it sort of got everybody to do what they have to do.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Using “Also Sprach Zarathustra” as the soundtrack to a long-in-coming bowel movement — I just report the news — was already dated and exhausted in 1990, and is bizarrely out of joint with the rest of the production.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• adrift
• astray
• bewildered
• lost
• perplexed
• unhinged
• unsettled