skew

 
Pronunciation: /skjuː/

adjective

  • 1neither parallel nor at right angles to a specified or implied line; askew; crooked: his hat looked slightly skew a skew angle
  • 2 Mathematics (of a pair of lines) neither parallel nor intersecting.
  • (of a curve) not lying in a plane.
  • 3 Statistics (of a statistical distribution) not symmetrical.

noun

  • 1an oblique angle; a slant.
  • 2a bias towards one particular group or subject: the paper had a working-class skew
  • 3 [mass noun] Statistics the state of not being symmetrical.

verb

  • 1 [no object, with adverbial] suddenly change direction or position: the car had skewed across the track
  • twist or turn or cause to do this: he skewed around in his saddle [with object]: his leg was skewed in and pushed against the other one
  • 2 [with object] make biased or distorted in a way that is regarded as inaccurate, unfair, or misleading: the curriculum is skewed towards the practical subjects
  • 3 [with object] Statistics cause (a distribution) to be asymmetrical: the distributions were skewed to the right

Phrases

on the skew

neither parallel nor at right angles to a specified or implied line; askew: the whole frame is on the skew

Derivatives

skewness

noun

Origin:

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