out of joint

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]

Example Sentences

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

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“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.”

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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.

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"My nose was a bit out of joint for a few hours," Towler told BBC News.

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"I agree there is an issue of sorts and I see why it might put people's noses out of joint, but there has to be a compromise," she told the BBC.

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Related Words

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