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skew

verb · noun

Simple meaning

To form or shape in an oblique way.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

skyoo
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈskju

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. transitive

    To form or shape in an oblique way; to cause to take an oblique position.

  2. transitive

    To bias or distort in a particular direction.

  3. intransitive

    To move obliquely; to move sideways, to sidle; to lie obliquely.

  4. statistics

    To cause (a distribution) to be asymmetrical.

  5. intransitive

    To jump back or sideways in fear or surprise; to shy, as a horse.

  6. intransitive

    To look at obliquely; to squint; hence, to look slightingly or suspiciously.

noun

  1. Something that has an oblique or slanted position.

  2. An oblique or sideways movement.

  3. A squint or sidelong glance.

  4. A kind of wooden vane or cowl in a chimney which revolves according to the direction of the wind and prevents smoking.

  5. A piece of rock lying in a slanting position and tapering upwards which overhangs a working-place in a mine and is liable to fall.

  6. A bias or distortion in a particular direction.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced (estimated)
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Primarily written

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To form or shape in an oblique way; to cause to take an oblique position.

Used this way, skew is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use skew

  • “The lines on the sheet of paper are skewed.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Cause / distribution

skew distribution

Neither / two

skew angle

Other combinations

skew deviationskew chiselclock skewtwo skewdata skew

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • skew archnounCompound term

    An arch whose jambs are not at right angles with the face.

  • skew correlationnounCompound term

    Any correlation in which the rates of change of the variables is not constant.

  • skew-whiffadverbCompound term

    Turned or twisted to one side.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.