Askew
adj, adv, name ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Turned or twisted to one side.
"Here Shenandoah brawls along, there burly Blue Ridge echoes strong, to swell the Brigade's rousing song, of "Stonewall Jackson’s Way." We see him now — the old slouched hat cocked o'er his eye askew, the shrewd, dry smile, the speech so pat, so calm, so blunt, so true."
- 2 Untoward, unfavourable. figuratively
- 1 turned or twisted toward one side wordnet
- 1 Tilted to one side.
"He wore his hat askew"
- 1 turned or twisted to one side wordnet
- 1 A surname.
Example
More examples"The wood was kindled, the flames arose, and a mouldering heap of ashes was soon all that remained of Mrs Askew and her fellow martyrs."
Etymology
From Old Norse á ská (“askew, askance”), equivalent to a- + skew. Compare Icelandic á ská (“diagonally”), Danish skrå (“slanting, oblique”), German Schräge (“slope, slant”).
Related phrases
More for "askew"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.