SKEW | English Meaning, Definition, and Pronunciation

late Middle English (as a verb in the sense ‘move obliquely’): shortening of Old Northern French eskiuwer, variant of Old French eschiver ‘eschew’. The adjective and noun (early 17th century) are from the verb

neither parallel nor at right angles to a specified or implied line; askew; crooked

neither parallel nor at right angles to specified or implied line

• his hat looked slightly skew
• a skew angle

(of a pair of lines) neither parallel nor intersecting.

(of pair of lines) neither parallel nor intersecting

(of a statistical distribution) not symmetrical.

(of statistical distribution) not symmetrical

an oblique angle; a slant.

oblique angle

a bias towards one particular group or subject

bias towards one particular group or subject

• the paper had a working-class skew

the state of not being symmetrical.

state of not being symmetrical

suddenly change direction or position

suddenly change direction or position

• the car had skewed across the track

make biased or distorted in a way that is regarded as inaccurate, unfair, or misleading

make biased or distorted in way that is regarded as inaccurate or misleading

• the curriculum is skewed towards the practical subjects

cause (a distribution) to be asymmetrical

cause distribution to be asymmetrical

• the distributions were skewed to the right