askew

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /əˈskju/ UK /əˈskjuː/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adv
not straight or level; to one side, crooked

The painting hung askew above the cracked mantelpiece.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adv · not straight or level; to... crooked awrylopsidedskewed aslant oblique cockeyed

Opposites

straight level aligned even

Word family

Related forms skew

Etymology

Probably from a- ('on') + skew, the latter from Old North French eskiuer ('to shun, avoid'), of Germanic origin; perhaps reinforced by Old Norse á ská ('on the skew').

eskiuer Old French

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# askew

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adv
**IPA (US):** /əˈskju/
**IPA (UK):** /əˈskjuː/

## Meanings
1. not straight or level; to one side, crooked

## Examples
- The painting hung askew above the cracked mantelpiece.

## Synonyms
- crooked
- awry
- lopsided
- skewed
- aslant
- oblique
- cockeyed

## Antonyms
- straight
- level
- aligned
- even

## Related Forms
- skew

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: eskiuer

## Etymology
Probably from a- ('on') + skew, the latter from Old North French eskiuer ('to shun, avoid'), of Germanic origin; perhaps reinforced by Old Norse á ská ('on the skew').

## AI Etymology
askew is probably from a- ('on') + skew, the latter from Old North French eskiuer ('to shun, avoid'), of Germanic origin; perhaps reinforced by Old Norse á ská ('on the skew'). Morphologically, the word is transparent as a compound: its parts remain visible in the modern spelling, while the older history of those parts supplies the deeper ancestry. In modern use, the adverb sense is "not straight or level; to one side, crooked", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. The wider word family includes related English forms such as skew, showing how the same base continues to support neighboring English vocabulary. The principal historical forms in the chain include Old French eskiuer, which anchor the explanation in named linguistic material.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

markdown