Word of the Day
: March 4, 2022askew
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adjective
uh-SKYOO
What It Means
Askew means "out of line" or "not straight."
// Sam noticed the picture hanging on the wall was askew so she straightened it.
askew in Context
"Papers were askew, someone had helped themselves to a snack in the kitchen and the suspect's prints were discovered in the fireplace. Worse yet, the culprit, a squirrel, was still in the house." — CBC News (Canada), 22 Aug. 2020
Did You Know?
Askew was formed simply by attaching the prefix a- (meaning "in [such] a state or condition") to skew. The latter comes from Anglo-French eschiver, meaning "to escape or avoid."
Test Your Vocabulary with M-W Quizzes
Test Your Vocabulary
What is the meaning of the adjective skewbald, as in a "skewbald horse"?
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
