skew
gb/skjˈu/ us/skjˈu/
B2
English
torzít, ferdít, ferdül, eltolódás, időeltérés, kitérő
VERB
C1
1
torzít
B2
Usage pattern:
[something] skews [something] (toward [something])
The low response rate skewed the survey results toward people with strong opinions.
Az alacsony válaszadási arány a határozott véleményű emberek felé torzította a felmérés eredményeit.
Relying on one source can skew your understanding of the issue.
Ha egyetlen forrásra hagyatkozol, az torzíthatja a kérdés megértését.
A few extremely high salaries skew the average upward.
Learner examples
This small group will skew the results.
Ez a kis csoport torzítani fogja az eredményeket.
Missing data can skew the report.
A hiányzó adatok torzíthatják a jelentést.
Common mistake:
Learners may confuse skew (make biased) with askew (not straight).
Meaning
make results biased or distorted
Collocations
skew the results
|skew the data
|skew the numbers
|skew the sample
|skew the findings
|skew the statistics
|skew perceptions
|skew the balance
|skew the analysis
|skew heavily toward
Synonyms
bias (Most direct synonym; often implies unfairness.)
|
distort (Emphasizes making something inaccurate or misleading.)
|
tilt (Suggests a noticeable lean toward one side.)
Antonyms
balance (Make or keep something even and fair.)
|
correct (Fix bias or error so results are accurate.)
Themes
statistics
|media
|business
|research
Definition
to make results or opinions lean too much to one side
To cause information, results, or someone’s judgment to be unfairly weighted in one direction, so it no longer accurately represents reality.
VERB
B2
2
Usage pattern:
[someone/something] skews [something] (to/toward [direction])
He accidentally skewed the picture when he tightened the frame.
Véletlenül elferdítette a képet, amikor meghúzta a keretet.
The designer skewed the text box to match the poster’s diagonal lines.
A tervező elferdítette a szövegdobozt, hogy illeszkedjen a plakát átlós vonalaihoz.
A strong gust of wind skewed the umbrella sideways.
Learner examples
Please don’t skew the photo.
Kérlek, ne ferdítsd el a fotót.
The sign is skewed to the right.
A tábla jobbra ferdén áll.
Common mistake:
Learners often use askew when they mean skewed; askew is an adjective meaning 'not straight.'
Meaning
turn or set at an angle
Collocations
skew the image
|skew the camera angle
|skew the frame
|skew slightly
|skew to the left
|skew to the right
|skew the perspective
|skew the layout
|skew the rectangle
|skew the alignment
Synonyms
slant (Common everyday word; slightly more general.)
|
tilt (Often implies rotating up/down or side-to-side.)
|
angle (Focuses on setting something to a particular angle.)
Antonyms
straighten (Make something straight again.)
|
align (Make parts line up correctly.)
Themes
daily_life
|design
|photography
Definition
to make something not straight, but angled
To cause something to be positioned, shaped, or moved at a slant rather than straight or square, or to become slanted.
NOUN
C1
3
eltolódás
B2
Usage pattern:
a skew (toward [something])
There’s a clear skew toward higher-income households in the sample.
A mintában egyértelmű eltolódás látszik a magasabb jövedelmű háztartások felé.
The platform’s user base has a strong age skew.
A platform felhasználói bázisában erős életkori eltolódás van.
After removing duplicates, the skew in the numbers largely disappeared.
Learner examples
The data shows a skew toward older users.
Az adatok az idősebb felhasználók felé való eltolódást mutatnak.
Common mistake:
In this sense, skew is countable in phrases like 'a skew toward X' but is more often discussed with 'skewed' (e.g., 'skewed distribution').
Meaning
uneven distribution or imbalance
Collocations
a skew toward
|a noticeable skew
|a strong skew
|a demographic skew
|an age skew
|a gender skew
|a regional skew
|a political skew
|a left skew
|a right skew
Synonyms
bias (Often suggests unfairness or a systematic leaning.)
|
imbalance (Highlights uneven amounts without implying intent.)
|
tilt (More informal; suggests a lean rather than a strict statistical property.)
Antonyms
balance (An even or fair distribution.)
|
evenness (Lack of strong leaning to one side.)
Themes
statistics
|business
|society
|research
Definition
a situation where one side has more than the other
An imbalance in a set of data or a group, where one side, category, or direction is more common or influential than others.
NOUN
C1
TECHNICAL
4
eltolódás
C1
időeltérés
C1
Usage pattern:
skew between [thing A] and [thing B]
Engineers tracked the skew between the audio and video streams during playback.
A mérnökök lejátszás közben nyomon követték a hang- és videofolyam közötti eltolódást.
The logs showed a skew of several seconds between the two servers’ timestamps.
A naplók több másodperces időeltérést mutattak a két szerver időbélyegei között.
Even small clock skew can cause problems in distributed systems.
Meaning
misalignment in timing or position
Collocations
timing skew
|clock skew
|audio-video skew
|skew between streams
|timestamp skew
|network skew
|synchronization skew
|measurement skew
|latency skew
|skew compensation
Synonyms
offset (Common technical term for a difference in alignment or time.)
|
drift (Emphasizes a difference that grows over time.)
Antonyms
synchronization (State of being aligned in time or operation.)
|
alignment (Correct lining up in position or timing.)
Themes
technology
|computing
|engineering
Definition
a small difference when two things should match
A difference between two things that should line up, especially in time (such as audio and video, or system clocks) or in synchronized processes.
C2
TECHNICAL
5
kitérő
C2
Usage pattern:
skew lines
In three dimensions, two edges of the box can be skew rather than parallel.
Három dimenzióban a doboz két éle lehet kitérő, nem pedig párhuzamos.
The diagram shows a pair of skew lines that never intersect.
Az ábra egy olyan kitérő egyenespárt mutat, amelyek soha nem metszik egymást.
You can’t find a single plane that contains both skew lines.
Meaning
non-parallel, non-intersecting geometry
Collocations
skew lines
|skew line
|skew geometry
|skew axis
Synonyms
noncoplanar (More technical; specifies not lying in the same plane.)
Antonyms
parallel (Lines that never meet but stay the same distance apart in the same plane.)
|
intersecting (Lines that cross at a point.)
Themes
mathematics
|education
Definition
two lines in 3D that never meet
Of lines in three-dimensional space: not parallel and not intersecting, so they do not lie in the same plane.
Grammar
Dictionary form
skew
IPA
GB/skjˈu/
US/skjˈu/
Syllables & stress
skew (1 syllable)
Stress on 1st syllable (skew)
Word forms
Adjective
- Base: skew
Verb
- Base: skew
- 3rd Person Singular: skews
- Present Participle: skewing
- Past: skewed
Expressions
negative skew
1/nˈɛɡɪtɪv skjˈu/
fixed phrase
technical
tail on the left
a graph where a few small values stretch to the left
Examples
- Test scores can show negative skew when most students score high.
- The plot indicates negative skew, with a longer tail on the left side.
- After the change, the distribution shifted from positive skew to slight negative skew.
positive skew
1/pˈɑzɪtɪv skjˈu/
fixed phrase
technical
tail on the right
a graph where a few big values stretch to the right
Examples
- Income data often shows positive skew because a few people earn very high amounts.
- The histogram has a clear positive skew, with a long right tail.
- Outliers created a positive skew in the dataset.
skew lines
1/skjˈu lˈaɪnz/
fixed phrase
technical
3D lines that never meet
Examples
- The opposite edges of a cube can form skew lines.
- Skew lines do not lie in the same plane.
- The exercise asks you to identify a pair of skew lines in the diagram.
skew-whiff
1/skjˈu wˈɪf/
fixed phrase
informal
crooked or not straight
not straight; crooked
Examples
- The shelf looks a bit skew-whiff—can you level it?
- He put the poster up skew-whiff, so it kept bothering everyone in the room.
- My glasses feel skew-whiff after I sat on them.
Learner examples
- The picture is skew-whiff.