What it means
Thrown off your game by frustration, so rattled that you keep playing worse and worse in a spiral of annoyance. One unlucky break tilts you, and suddenly every decision is rushed and angry. Now used well beyond games for anyone wound up and off their stride.
Usage examples
"I went tilted after that loss and threw the next three games."
"Do not let one rude email tilt you for the whole day."
"He got tilted after that cheap death and started ego-peeking everything."
"I was a bit tilted from the meeting, so I had to go for a walk before replying."
Where it comes from
It comes from tilt in pinball. If you shoved or jolted the machine too hard, it would lock up and flash TILT, basically saying you’d knocked it out of proper play. Gamers picked that up for the mental version, when someone gets so annoyed or flustered that their decision-making goes sideways.
Other ways to say it
Editors of this term
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