"off-the-wall" meaning in English

See off-the-wall in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

Audio: En-au-off-the-wall.ogg Forms: more off-the-wall [comparative], most off-the-wall [superlative]
Etymology: Perhaps from baseball or other games played with a ball, alluding to unpredictable bounces; but compare also bounce off the walls. Head templates: {{en-adj}} off-the-wall (comparative more off-the-wall, superlative most off-the-wall)
  1. (idiomatic) Wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd. Tags: idiomatic Translations (wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd): 荒诞的 (huāngdàn) (Chinese Mandarin), 疯狂的 (fēngkuáng) (Chinese Mandarin), buitenissig (Dutch), à côté de la plaque (French), schräg (German), abgedreht (German), schrill (German), bizarr (German), fuori dalle righe (Italian), od czapy (Polish), чудной (čudnoj) [masculine] (Russian), нелепый (nelepyj) [masculine] (Russian), uppåt väggarna (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-off-the-wall-en-adj-GxJzSKp~ Disambiguation of 'wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd': 99 1
  2. (idiomatic) Of a person's behaviour: greatly inappropriate. Tags: idiomatic Translations (greatly inappropriate): daneben (German), ни в какие ворота (ni v kakije vorota) (Russian)
    Sense id: en-off-the-wall-en-adj-pM6OWm4A Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Dutch translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Italian translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Swedish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 9 91 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 5 95 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 6 94 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 2 98 Disambiguation of Terms with Dutch translations: 4 96 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 3 97 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 9 91 Disambiguation of Terms with Italian translations: 3 97 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 11 89 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 15 85 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 3 97 Disambiguation of Terms with Swedish translations: 15 85 Disambiguation of 'greatly inappropriate': 4 96
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: off the wall Related terms: bounce off the walls

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_text": "Perhaps from baseball or other games played with a ball, alluding to unpredictable bounces; but compare also bounce off the walls.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more off-the-wall",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most off-the-wall",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "off-the-wall (comparative more off-the-wall, superlative most off-the-wall)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "bounce off the walls"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "What kind of a harebrained, off-the-wall idea is that?",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "She is a very off-the-wall character.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015 March 19, Alessandra Stanley, “'Empire' Finale Review: A Sizzling End to Season One”, in New York Times:",
          "text": "What makes it surprising, though, are the glimmers of wit and self-awareness beneath all the rap star swagger and over-the-top confrontations. Even the fervid finale had a few off-the-wall side jokes.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd."
      ],
      "id": "en-off-the-wall-en-adj-GxJzSKp~",
      "links": [
        [
          "unconventional",
          "unconventional"
        ],
        [
          "bizarre",
          "bizarre"
        ],
        [
          "absurd",
          "absurd"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) Wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "huāngdàn",
          "sense": "wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd",
          "word": "荒诞的"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "fēngkuáng",
          "sense": "wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd",
          "word": "疯狂的"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd",
          "word": "buitenissig"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd",
          "word": "à côté de la plaque"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd",
          "word": "schräg"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd",
          "word": "abgedreht"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd",
          "word": "schrill"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd",
          "word": "bizarr"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd",
          "word": "fuori dalle righe"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd",
          "word": "od czapy"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "čudnoj",
          "sense": "wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "чудной"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "nelepyj",
          "sense": "wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "нелепый"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd",
          "word": "uppåt väggarna"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "9 91",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "5 95",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "6 94",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "2 98",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "4 96",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Dutch translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "3 97",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "9 91",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "3 97",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Italian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "11 89",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "15 85",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "3 97",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Russian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "15 85",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Swedish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2012, Reginald Pierce, The Paladin, page 204:",
          "text": "All of their friends were amazed that they were familiar with a war hero. Some began to understand Chips' moods and drinking. His \"off the wall\" behaviour at times. And unknowingly they were \"forgiving\" him.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Of a person's behaviour: greatly inappropriate."
      ],
      "id": "en-off-the-wall-en-adj-pM6OWm4A",
      "links": [
        [
          "inappropriate",
          "inappropriate"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) Of a person's behaviour: greatly inappropriate."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "4 96",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "greatly inappropriate",
          "word": "daneben"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 96",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "ni v kakije vorota",
          "sense": "greatly inappropriate",
          "word": "ни в какие ворота"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-off-the-wall.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/94/En-au-off-the-wall.ogg/En-au-off-the-wall.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/En-au-off-the-wall.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "off the wall"
    }
  ],
  "word": "off-the-wall"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English adjectives",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Dutch translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Italian translations",
    "Terms with Mandarin translations",
    "Terms with Polish translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
    "Terms with Swedish translations"
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Perhaps from baseball or other games played with a ball, alluding to unpredictable bounces; but compare also bounce off the walls.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more off-the-wall",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most off-the-wall",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "off-the-wall (comparative more off-the-wall, superlative most off-the-wall)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "bounce off the walls"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "What kind of a harebrained, off-the-wall idea is that?",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "She is a very off-the-wall character.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015 March 19, Alessandra Stanley, “'Empire' Finale Review: A Sizzling End to Season One”, in New York Times:",
          "text": "What makes it surprising, though, are the glimmers of wit and self-awareness beneath all the rap star swagger and over-the-top confrontations. Even the fervid finale had a few off-the-wall side jokes.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "unconventional",
          "unconventional"
        ],
        [
          "bizarre",
          "bizarre"
        ],
        [
          "absurd",
          "absurd"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) Wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2012, Reginald Pierce, The Paladin, page 204:",
          "text": "All of their friends were amazed that they were familiar with a war hero. Some began to understand Chips' moods and drinking. His \"off the wall\" behaviour at times. And unknowingly they were \"forgiving\" him.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Of a person's behaviour: greatly inappropriate."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "inappropriate",
          "inappropriate"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) Of a person's behaviour: greatly inappropriate."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-off-the-wall.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/94/En-au-off-the-wall.ogg/En-au-off-the-wall.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/En-au-off-the-wall.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "off the wall"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "huāngdàn",
      "sense": "wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd",
      "word": "荒诞的"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "fēngkuáng",
      "sense": "wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd",
      "word": "疯狂的"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd",
      "word": "buitenissig"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd",
      "word": "à côté de la plaque"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd",
      "word": "schräg"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd",
      "word": "abgedreht"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd",
      "word": "schrill"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd",
      "word": "bizarr"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd",
      "word": "fuori dalle righe"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd",
      "word": "od czapy"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "čudnoj",
      "sense": "wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "чудной"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "nelepyj",
      "sense": "wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "нелепый"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd",
      "word": "uppåt väggarna"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "greatly inappropriate",
      "word": "daneben"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "ni v kakije vorota",
      "sense": "greatly inappropriate",
      "word": "ни в какие ворота"
    }
  ],
  "word": "off-the-wall"
}

Download raw JSONL data for off-the-wall meaning in English (4.6kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.