skew

American  

[skyoo] / skju /

verb (used with object)

• skews,
  present (3rd person singular)
• skewed,
  past participle,  past
• skewing
  present participle

1. to give an oblique direction to; shape, form, or cut obliquely.

   In a crochet project, a slip stitch can skew the edge a bit if you use it to finish the final round.

2. to make conform to a specific concept, attitude, or planned result; slant.

   The television show is skewed to the young teenager.

3. to distort; depict unfairly.

   When other researchers looked into the report, they found misrepresentation of data that skewed the evidence.

4. Statistics. to cause (a distribution) to have a disproportionate number of data points above or below the mean.

   The income categories for transit commuters were skewed toward higher incomes because the survey was only distributed through a phone app.

---

verb (used without object)

• skews,
  present (3rd person singular)
• skewed,
  past participle,  past
• skewing
  present participle

1. to turn aside or swerve; take an oblique course.

   The car skewed sharply to the right when it hit the patch of ice.

2. to display a tendency in a particular direction.

   My reading skews toward nonfiction, which I suppose isn't that surprising for a historian.

3. to be distorted or unfairly depicted.

   The narrative presented by the country's leading newspapers skews toward an account that fits the needs of the state.

4. to look obliquely; squint.

noun

1. a tendency in a particular direction.

   Officials involved in budget-related discussions said that there was a skew towards social sector spending.

2. an oblique movement, direction, or position.

3. Also called skew chisel.  a wood chisel having a cutting edge set obliquely.

adjective

1. having an oblique direction or position; slanting; sideways.

   The picture is square, but the angles of the trees give it a skew look.

2. having a part that deviates from a straight line, right angle, etc..

   skew gearing.

3. Mathematics. (of a dyad or dyadic) equal to the negative of its conjugate.

4. (of an arch, bridge, etc.) having the centerline of its opening forming an oblique angle with the direction in which its spanning structure is built.

5. Statistics. (of a distribution) not symmetrical; having skewness.

skew British  

/ 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. maths

   1. 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

   2. (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

1. an oblique, slanting, or indirect course or position

2. psychol the system of relationships in a family in which one parent is extremely dominating while the other parent tends to be meekly compliant

verb

1. to take or cause to take an oblique course or direction

2. (intr) to look sideways; squint

3. (tr) to place at an angle

4. (tr) to distort or bias

skew Scientific  

/ skyo̅o̅ /

1. A transformation of coordinates in which one coordinate is displaced in one direction in proportion to its distance from a coordinate plane or axis. A rectangle, for example, that undergoes skew is transformed into a parallelogram.

2. Also called shear

---

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• skewing
  present
• skewed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• skew
  simple
• skews
  simple
• have skewed
  perfect
• has skewed
  perfect
• am skewing
  progressive
• are skewing
  progressive
• is skewing
  progressive
• have been skewing
  perfect progressive
• has been skewing
  perfect progressive

Past

• skewed
  simple
• had skewed
  perfect
• was skewing
  progressive
• were skewing
  progressive
• had been skewing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will skew
  simple
• will have skewed
  perfect
• will be skewing
  progressive
• will have been skewing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of skew

First recorded in 1350–1400; (for the verb) Middle English skewen “to slip away, swerve,” from Middle Dutch schuwen “to get out of the way, shun,” derivative of schu ( Dutch schuw ) shy ¹; adjective derivative of the verb, probably by analogy with askew; noun derivative of the verb and adjective

Explanation

To skew is to turn or place at an angle. When you build a house of cards, you must slightly angle, or skew each card, so structure will stand up. From the Middle English skewen ("swerve"), this verb was born to describe things in the physical world. Nowadays, though, we encounter it more informally: If you're in advertising, you might skew (target, aim) your commercials toward a particular demographic. Even before that, you may collect some statistical data on your intended audience, and then make sure that data is accurate, because bad or irrelevant info might skew (distort, inaccurately depict) the results of your research.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

skew skews skewed skewing

It’s also true, however, that the tax advantages of defined contribution plans tend to skew toward wealthier households.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

Consequently, Barclays said: “In contrast, skew on credit ETFs, led by LQD, steepened sharply, opening a notable divergence in downside risk perceptions across asset classes.”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026

Analysts at Cboe Global Markets said one-month TLT put skew — a measure of demand for out-of-the-money put options compared with out-of-the-money call options — surged to its highest level since the 2008 financial crisis.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026

Any signals of a slower quantitative tightening pace or a further skew away from selling long-dated bonds would likely support U.K. government bonds, Bank of America strategists said in a note.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

We didn’t want to skew the graph with new data, and so didn’t mention that Desdemona was actually seventy-one, not ninety-one, and that she always confused sevens with nines.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

It is notably different from the men's game, which skews male and older.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

The audience Kalshi is attracting is different from its typical trader base, which skews heavily toward males.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026

Depending on the light, the silvery palladium leaf surface of Holzer’s wall piece skews slightly red or blue.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026

But it’s consistent with a growing body of research in the behavioral economics field showing how our mood skews our decision-making.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 9, 2026

As I watch, a small explosion flashes from the launch port and one shuttle dock rail skews to one side, while the other completely detaches.

From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera

On the other hand, the new engine's drivability was definitely worse, which may have skewed the picture.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

Harry and Meghan’s U.K. return comes as British and American press are being scrutinized for their skewed coverage of Jason Arday, the youngest Black professor in Cambridge history.

From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026

He said the positions of the US and Iran indicated "any potential deal is still some way off, meaning risks remain skewed to the upside for oil prices".

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

These accounts underscore ongoing efforts to improve access for small and mid‑sized importers, pushing back on narratives that the process is purely skewed toward corporate giants.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Ziemer emphasized that this alarming death rate hadn’t been skewed upward by mountaineering accidents; the victims had been “just ordinary trekkers who never ventured beyond the established trails.”

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

Paul Burke, at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, says Apollo regolith samples might have lost some of their helium-3 on their return to Earth, skewing our understanding of how much is there.

From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2026

Notably, independent voters’ views on immigration are skewing more in line with Democrats’, according to the poll.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026

The wealth skewing American per capita economic data is a result of innovation and entrepreneurship.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026

From a tactical standpoint, the setup suggests the risk/reward is skewing toward a near term bounce rather than renewed downside.

From Barron's ● Feb. 23, 2026

I braced my feet farther apart when it felt like the ground was skewing to the left.

From "Made You Up" by Francesca Zappia

Related Words

• alter
• bias
• misrepresent
• slant