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.

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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

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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

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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

Gomez-Cardona said the data show that average healthcare spending remains relatively stable because many retirees incur modest costs, while a smaller share of retirees face exceptionally large medical expenses that skew the distribution.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 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

“Many of these experiences skew towards the high end of the income distribution,” Goldman says.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 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

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 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

Russell is sanguine about that, and points out that the fact that Mercedes are dominating somewhat skews the dynamic of the contest.

From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2026

“Part of her popularity is for her audience of all ages, and obviously skews more female than male, it gives them their yearbook,” he said about his friend.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 11, 2026

It doesn’t diminish her 20/20 vision, only skews it a bit.

From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García

But the “E” in the P/E ratio is skewed because the estimates are for Street earnings.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Exceptions would be years massively skewed by circumstance.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 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

And IG Markets' Tony Sycamore said "the balance of risks appears to be becoming more skewed back to the upside".

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

If I skipped a meal, he lectured me, telling me I shouldn’t listen to outsiders and their skewed views on beauty.

From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana

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

The bank, which maintains its buy rating and HK$66.70 stock target price, says there is a risk of lithium prices skewing higher given strong on-the-ground demand and on-and-off supply disruptions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 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

Colorectal cancer was the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. last year — and the toll is now skewing younger.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 3, 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