Word forms: 3rd person singular presenttense skews, present participle skewing, past tense, past participle skewed
verb
If something is skewed, it is changed or affected to some extent by a new or unusual factor, and so is not correct or normal.
The arithmetic of nuclear running costs has been skewed by the fall in the cost ofother fuels. [beVERB-ed]
Today's election will skew the results in favor of the northern end of the county. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: distort, slant, misrepresent, colour More Synonyms of skew
skewedgraded adjective
Policies are definitely more skewed towards economic growth than before.
...a handful of schools which constitute a skewed and highly selective sample.
skew in British English
(skjuː)
adjective
1.
placed in or turning into an oblique position or course
2. machinery
having a component that is at an angle to the main axis of an assembly or is in some other way asymmetrical
a skew bevel gear
3. mathematics
a.
composed of or being elements that are neither parallel nor intersecting as, for example, two lines not lying in the same plane in a three-dimensional space
b.
(of a curve) not lying in a plane
4.
(of a statistical distribution) not having equal probabilities above and below the mean; non-normal
5.
distorted or biased
noun
6.
an oblique, slanting, or indirect course or position
7. psychology
the system of relationships in a family in which one parent is extremely dominating while the other parent tends to be meekly compliant
verb
8.
to take or cause to take an oblique course or direction
9. (intransitive)
to look sideways; squint
10. (transitive)
to place at an angle
11. (transitive)
to distort or bias
Word origin
C14: from Old Norman French escuer to shun, of Germanic origin; compare Middle Dutch schuwen to avoid
skew in American English
(skju)
verb intransitive
1.
to take a slanting or oblique course or direction; swerve or twist
2.
to squint or glance sideways (at)
verb transitive
3.
to make slanting or oblique; set at a slant
4.
to bias, distort, or pervert
adjective
5.
turned aside or to one side; slanting; oblique
6.
having a part or arrangement that is so turned, as in gearing having the shafts neither parallel nor intersecting
7.
not symmetrical
noun
8.
a slant or twist
9.
a slanting part or movement
Word origin
ME skewen < NormFr eskiuer, altered < OFr eschiver: see eschew
Examples of 'skew' in a sentence
skew
And it can skew the way you look at life.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Some forces argued that the figures had been skewed by the weather.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
It misses the main targets and produces skewed national figures.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Are opportunity and privilege skewed in one direction?
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
In telling her story she has at least begun to expose how the system is skewed.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Mind you, they were asked three times and in positively skewed ways.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
These are the cases that skew sickness absence figures and trends, and are so damaging financially.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
The figures have been skewed by a change in the way complaints are recorded, said others.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
But this figure is skewed because voters are more likely to watch if they support the President.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Their perspective is skewed in a direction favourable to the big man's memory.
The Sun (2009)
It's a skew in the system.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Black hats study the way search engines work and look for ways to skew the results to promote certain websites in the search ranking.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Election officials have warned ministers that a postal strike could skew the election results in marginal seats if a poll is held next month.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Any other scheme is clearly an attempt to skew the figures and boost profits rather than make insurance cheaper or enhance benefits to the consumer.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Meanwhile, criticisms over costs and delay come with the new territory of a justice system no longer skewed by sectarianism.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
The figures may be skewed.
The Sun (2010)
It upsets me because I think the way things are skewed is very divisive.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
But, to get technical, the average paints a misleading picture if the distribution is skewed.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Better jobs figures are skewed by more part-time workers, and growth remains tepid.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Allowance was made for factors that could skew findings, such as the day of the week, income and gender.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
In other languages
skew
British English: skew VERB
If something is skewed, it is changed or affected to some extent by a new or unusual factor, and so is not correct or normal.
The arithmetic of nuclear running costs has been skewed by the fall in the cost of other fuels.
American English: skew
Brazilian Portuguese: enviezar
Chinese: 曲解
European Spanish: sesgar
French: fausser
German: verzerren
Italian: distorcere
Japanese: ねじ曲げる
Korean: 왜곡하다
European Portuguese: enviesar
Latin American Spanish: sesgar
All related terms of 'skew'
skew arch
an arch or vault , esp one used in a bridge or tunnel , that is set at an oblique angle to the span
skew-eyed
having eyes that look in opposite directions from each other
skew lines
two or more lines that lie in different planes , are not parallel , and do not intersect
skew polygon
the figure formed by joining four or more points, not all in one plane , by the same number of lines
skew symmetry
symmetry of top left with bottom right , and top right with bottom left
skew symmetric matrix
a matrix that is equal to the negation of its transpose
(verb)
Definition
to distort or misrepresent
This figure is skewed because much of the work still hasn't been done.
Synonyms
distort
The media distorts reality.
slant
The coverage was deliberately slanted to make the home team look good.
misrepresent
The extent of the current strike is being misrepresented.
colour
The attitude of parents colours the way their children behave.
twist
It's a shame the way the media can twist your words.
weigh
bias
We mustn't allow it to bias our teaching.
falsify
The charges against him include fraud, bribery, and falsifying business records.
Additional synonyms
in the sense of bias
Definition
to cause to have a bias
We mustn't allow it to bias our teaching.
Synonyms
influence,
colour,
weight,
prejudice,
distort,
sway,
warp,
slant,
predispose
in the sense of colour
Definition
to influence or distort
The attitude of parents colours the way their children behave.
Synonyms
influence,
affect,
prejudice,
distort,
pervert,
taint,
slant
in the sense of falsify
Definition
to make a report or evidence false by alteration in order to deceive
The charges against him include fraud, bribery, and falsifying business records.
Synonyms
alter,
forge,
fake,
tamper with,
doctor,
cook (slang),
distort,
pervert,
belie,
counterfeit,
misrepresent,
garble,
misstate
Nearby words of
skew
sketch something out
sketchily
sketchy
skew
skewer
skewwhiff
skid
Synonyms of 'skew'
skew
Explore 'skew' in the dictionary
Additional synonyms
in the sense of misrepresent
Definition
to represent wrongly or inaccurately
The extent of the current strike is being misrepresented.
Synonyms
distort,
disguise,
pervert,
belie,
twist,
misinterpret,
falsify,
garble,
misstate
in the sense of slant
Definition
to write or present (information) in a biased way
The coverage was deliberately slanted to make the home team look good.
Synonyms
bias,
colour,
weight,
twist,
angle,
distort
in the sense of twist
Definition
to change the meaning of
It's a shame the way the media can twist your words.