CATTYWAMPUS

                    Pronunciation

                    ·       (US) IPA(key): /ˌkætəˈwɑmpəs/, /ˈkætəˌwɑmpəs/

                    Adjective

                     catawampus (comparative more catawampus, superlative most catawampus)

                       1.     Out of alignment, crooked, cater-corner.
                       2.     Fierce, destructive.

                       Synonyms

·                      (out of alignment): askew, awry, crooked, off-kilter
·                       fierce, destructive): destructive, fierce 

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                    I rather doubt that anybody has
                    Included cattywampus in a verse:
                    So now, without ado or razzmatazz,
                    Let me, then, be the first one to disburse
                    This word into the world of sonnetry
                    To find out how it fares where Shakespeare walked,
                    And if it proves a bumptious refugee
                    Soon doomed to be ridiculously mocked,
                    Or chances to inveigle some support
                    From connoisseurs of this exalted art,
                    Appealing to the whims of that cohort
                    As something to be savored, quite apart
                         From diction that’s traditionally enjoyed,
                          But now is cattawampically deployed.

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