See skew-whiff in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
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"etymology_text": "From skew + weft.\nThe expression 'skew weft' dates at least from the 18th century as a term used by handloom weavers, typically in northern England. It was used originally to describe fabric which was out of alignment, and the term survives today in the manufacture of glass fiber cloth.\nThe word weft does not derive from 'whiff' as in a puff of air (as suggested elsewhere). The modern spelling comes from a corruption of 'skew-wift' whose sound developed colloquially in spoken English from the original. Bow weft also exists.",
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"text": "I hung up that picture, but it looks skew-whiff to me.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "1971, Blackwood′s Magazine, volume 309, page 497:",
"text": "“[…]I′ve just been looking up at them and it seems to me that Cassiopeia′s Chair is a bit more skew-whiff than usual. Either it′s been moved or we′re heading the wrong way.”",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1984, Punch, Volume 286, Part 1, page 87:",
"text": "I nudged him to remember what was surely the best day of his life—when he had walked serenely through the milling throng, moist-eyed, and sheepish grin more skew-whiff than ever, in the starling-shrieking, jabbering cockpit of that tumbledown stadium at Delhi on Christmas Eve in 1981.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1997, Australian Literary Studies, volume 18, University of Tasmania, page 199:",
"text": "His genially skew-whiff posture for the camera may be intended to deflect easy attempts to get an angle on him.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1999, Alan Wall, The Lightning Cage, page 4:",
"text": "Johnson replied, with a shake of his massive head so vigorous that his ill-fitting wig became even more skew-whiff:[…].",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2004, Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty […], 1st US edition, New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:",
"text": "He wasn′t wearing shoes or a jacket and tie, and his front stud was undone, so that the white collar stood up skew-whiff.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2009, Charles Rawlings-Way, Meg Worby, Lindsay Brown, Paul Harding, Central Australia: Adelaide to Darwin, Lonely Planet, page 112:",
"text": "In a gorgeous old stone-fronted house at a skew-whiff angle to the road, this main-street, mainstream eatery serves big breakfasts, pizzas, burgers, lasagne, focaccias, bruschetta and salads.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2009, Justine Vaisutis, Australia, Lonely Planet, page 530:",
"text": "The Cat is a large, comfortable space with a great atmosphere and skew-whiff 1950s decor (a Melbourne trademark).",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Askew; lopsided, not straight."
],
"id": "en-skew-whiff-en-adj-jiJLwfsA",
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[
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"(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, colloquial) Askew; lopsided, not straight."
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"word": "awry"
},
{
"word": "agee"
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{
"word": "skew-wift"
},
{
"word": "skew wift"
},
{
"word": "skew wiff"
},
{
"word": "skew-wiff"
},
{
"word": "scew-whiff"
},
{
"word": "skew whift"
},
{
"word": "skew-whift"
},
{
"word": "skew whiff"
},
{
"word": "skewiff"
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{
"word": "ski whiff"
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{
"word": "squewiff"
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"word": "skeow-wheef"
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{
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"word": "skew-whiff"
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"etymology_text": "From skew + weft.\nThe expression 'skew weft' dates at least from the 18th century as a term used by handloom weavers, typically in northern England. It was used originally to describe fabric which was out of alignment, and the term survives today in the manufacture of glass fiber cloth.\nThe word weft does not derive from 'whiff' as in a puff of air (as suggested elsewhere). The modern spelling comes from a corruption of 'skew-wift' whose sound developed colloquially in spoken English from the original. Bow weft also exists.",
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"text": "I hung up that picture, but it looks skew-whiff to me.",
"type": "example"
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"ref": "1971, Blackwood′s Magazine, volume 309, page 497:",
"text": "“[…]I′ve just been looking up at them and it seems to me that Cassiopeia′s Chair is a bit more skew-whiff than usual. Either it′s been moved or we′re heading the wrong way.”",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1984, Punch, Volume 286, Part 1, page 87:",
"text": "I nudged him to remember what was surely the best day of his life—when he had walked serenely through the milling throng, moist-eyed, and sheepish grin more skew-whiff than ever, in the starling-shrieking, jabbering cockpit of that tumbledown stadium at Delhi on Christmas Eve in 1981.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1997, Australian Literary Studies, volume 18, University of Tasmania, page 199:",
"text": "His genially skew-whiff posture for the camera may be intended to deflect easy attempts to get an angle on him.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1999, Alan Wall, The Lightning Cage, page 4:",
"text": "Johnson replied, with a shake of his massive head so vigorous that his ill-fitting wig became even more skew-whiff:[…].",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2004, Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty […], 1st US edition, New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:",
"text": "He wasn′t wearing shoes or a jacket and tie, and his front stud was undone, so that the white collar stood up skew-whiff.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2009, Charles Rawlings-Way, Meg Worby, Lindsay Brown, Paul Harding, Central Australia: Adelaide to Darwin, Lonely Planet, page 112:",
"text": "In a gorgeous old stone-fronted house at a skew-whiff angle to the road, this main-street, mainstream eatery serves big breakfasts, pizzas, burgers, lasagne, focaccias, bruschetta and salads.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2009, Justine Vaisutis, Australia, Lonely Planet, page 530:",
"text": "The Cat is a large, comfortable space with a great atmosphere and skew-whiff 1950s decor (a Melbourne trademark).",
"type": "quote"
}
],
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"Askew; lopsided, not straight."
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"(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, colloquial) Askew; lopsided, not straight."
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"synonyms": [
{
"word": "skew-wift"
},
{
"word": "skew wift"
},
{
"word": "skew wiff"
},
{
"word": "skew-wiff"
},
{
"word": "scew-whiff"
},
{
"word": "skew whift"
},
{
"word": "skew-whift"
},
{
"word": "skew whiff"
},
{
"word": "skewiff"
},
{
"word": "ski whiff"
},
{
"word": "squewiff"
},
{
"word": "skewquieff"
},
{
"word": "skeow-wheef"
},
{
"word": "skeow wheef"
}
],
"word": "skew-whiff"
}
Download raw JSONL data for skew-whiff meaning in English (4.4kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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