WordGarden.ioskew
C2Pronunciation
UK
- /skjˈuː/
US
- /ˈskju/
Meanings
Verb
to distort or pull something toward one side so it is unbalanced or misleading
to place, turn, or run at an angle instead of straight
Noun
a slant, bias, or one-sided tendency in emphasis, membership, or results
in statistics, asymmetry in a distribution, especially toward one tail
Beyond the definition
Imagine drawing a perfectly straight line, then giving it a little push to one side. That is the heart of skew. It means something is no longer properly lined up, balanced, or fair. A news report might skew toward one political view, meaning it presents the story in a way that favors that side. A picture on the wall can also look skewed if it hangs a little crooked. In numbers and charts, skew describes a pattern that leans more to one side than the other, instead of being evenly spread. Whether it is a physical tilt or a bias in the way something is shown, the idea is the same: something has been pulled away from the center.
The word "skew" describes something that leans, turns, or pulls away from a straight, balanced, or fair position. Sometimes that idea is physical: a shelf can sit at an angle, a drawing can lean to one side, and two lines in geometry can be called skew lines if they do not cross and are not parallel because they lie in different planes. At other times, the idea is less physical and more about influence or balance.
In journalism, debate, and everyday speech, to skew something often means to push it unfairly in one direction. You can skew a story by leaving out facts, skew a survey by asking leading questions, or skew an argument by choosing only the evidence that supports your side. A poll may also skew toward a certain group, which suggests the result does not reflect the wider population fairly. In this use, the word is closely connected with bias and distortion, whether the effect is deliberate or not.
In statistics, the word is also used for distributions that are not even on both sides. If most values are crowded on one side and a longer tail stretches out on the other, the data is said to be skewed. This is a technical use, but it still carries the same basic picture: the shape is leaning away from the center instead of staying balanced.
Most often, skew appears as a verb, and skewed appears as the adjective people use in normal speech. Whether you are talking about a crooked object, a one-sided report, or uneven data, the word points to the same story: something has been turned away from a straight, neutral, or balanced state.
Examples
- 1
Social media
Social media can give you a skewed view of other people's lives.
- 2
Averages
A few very high salaries can skew the average.
- 3
Survey data
The survey results were skewed by the low response rate.
- 4
Sports coverage
The coverage was skewed in favor of the home team.
- Phrasein favor of
giving more support or advantage to one side
More examplesFewer examples
- 5
Audience demographics
The show's audience skews young.
- Patternskew + adjective
be made up more of that type than expected
See also
Forms and spellings
4 forms open this card.
Main spelling
- skewverbadjective
Forms
- skewedpast tenseverbadjective
- skewing-ing formverbadjective
- skewsverbadjective