akimbo

/əˈkɪmboʊ/

When you put your hands on your hips and your elbows are sticking out, your arms are akimbo, like when you stand in the bathroom, arms akimbo while yelling, “Who left the toilet seat up?”

The adjective akimbo, pronounced "uh-KIM-bo," comes from the Middle English phrase in kenebowe, which meant “at a sharp angle" — a good description for how your arms look when, elbows bent, you have your hands on your hips. Legs can also be akimbo, like when you do a cartwheel or fall down while skiing, your arms and legs sprawling in positions that can best be described as akimbo.

Definitions of akimbo

1. adverb

   with hands on hips and elbows extending outward
   “she stood there akimbo”
2. adjective

   (used of arms and legs) bent outward with the joint away from the body
   “a tailor sitting with legs akimbo”

   “stood with arms akimbo”

   synonyms:

   crooked

   having or marked by bends or angles; not straight or aligned