cock-eyed

A man looks cock-eyed at a crooked picture frame on the wall.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Physically crooked or askew: "cock-eyed" describes something that is tilted, lopsided, or not straight.

     • The picture on the wall was cock-eyed, hanging at an odd angle. (The picture was not level.)
   • Foolish or absurd: "cock-eyed" can describe an idea, plan, or scheme that is unrealistic, impractical, or nonsensical.

     • He had a cock-eyed plan to build a rocket in his garage. (The plan was foolish and unlikely to succeed.)
   • Cross-eyed or squinting: In informal usage, "cock-eyed" refers to a person whose eyes are not aligned properly, giving a squinting or crossed appearance.

Usage Examples

• (The hat was not straight on her head.)
• (The theory is absurd or illogical.)
• (He had a squint or misaligned vision.)

Advanced Usage

• "to be cock-eyed": to be physically crooked or mentally off-kilter.
  • The shelf is cock-eyed; we need to fix it. (The shelf is not level.)
• "a cock-eyed view": a distorted or unrealistic perspective.
  • His cock-eyed view of the world leads him to make bad decisions. (His perspective is warped.)

Variants and Related Words

• Cockeyed (adj): alternative spelling, same meaning.
  • The building's design was completely cockeyed. (The design was crooked or absurd.)
• Cock-eye (n): a condition of having a squint or misaligned eyes.
  • He was born with a cock-eye, but surgery corrected it. (He was born with a squint.)

Synonyms

• Askew: not straight or level; tilted.
  • The lamp was askew, leaning to one side. (The lamp was crooked.)
• Absurd: wildly unreasonable or illogical.
  • His cock-eyed argument was completely absurd. (The argument was nonsensical.)
• Squinting: having eyes that are partly closed or misaligned.
  • The cock-eyed man squinted in the bright sunlight. (He had a squint.)

Idioms and Phrasal Verbs

• "to be cock-eyed": (idiom) to be physically crooked or mentally foolish.
  • The whole plan is cock-eyed; it will never work. (The plan is foolish.)
• "to look cock-eyed at something": to view something with suspicion or disbelief.
  • She looked cock-eyed at his suggestion, thinking it was ridiculous. (She looked skeptically.)

Related Idioms

• "cock-eyed optimist": a person who is unrealistically or foolishly optimistic.
  • Even when things went wrong, he remained a cock-eyed optimist. (He was irrationally hopeful.)
• "cock-eyed world": a world that seems illogical or twisted.
  • In this cock-eyed world, nothing makes sense. (The world seems absurd.)