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Definition
not straight (not in proper alignment)or:
(when used metaphorically) not right, or not as planned
- She came out of the water with her glasses askew but still on her head.
askew = not straight (not in proper alignment)
- Her priorities are askew.
- The earthquake left our pictures hanging askew.
- I always see him without his jacket and with his tie yanked askew.
- Everything looked amateurish. Even the signs were hung askew.
- But Marilla could not rid herself of the notion that something in her scheme of punishment was going askew.Lucy Maud Montgomery -- Anne Of Green Gables
- [T]he twins forced the sweater over his head, knocking his glasses askew.J.K. Rowling -- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
- With frowsy hair, skirts askew and red hands, she talked loud while washing the floor with great swishes of water.Guy de Maupassant -- The Diamond Necklace
- Harry was just helping himself to a baked potato when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face.J.K. Rowling -- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
- The framed print of Bernini's Ecstasy of St. Teresa looked slightly askew.Abraham Verghese -- Cutting for Stone
- Mom's cheery yellow sweater lies askew along the stitches on her throat and shoulder.Susan Ee -- Angelfall
- In the evening the murky shape of another coastal city, the cluster of tall buildings vaguely askew.Cormac McCarthy -- The Road
- I'm not going askew from the principles on which the United States was built; I'm right there with our founding fathers.Phil Robertson -- Happy, Happy, Happy: My Life and Legacy as the Duck Commander
- A canopy, which had been carried on four poles over somebody or something, was sinking with the poles askew, like a liner foundering in Atlantic.T. H. White -- The Once and Future King
- The boss slashed impotently at newspapers, printed blurry slips and pasted items askew.Betty Smith -- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
- 'Oho!' said Ralph, eyeing him askew.Charles Dickens -- Nicholas Nickleby
- On her head a circlet of hammered bronze sat askew, graven with runes and ringed with small black swords.George R.R. Martin -- A Feast For Crows
- It was, in fact, the only sign that there was anything at all askew.Ted Dekker -- Black: The Birth of Evil
- He wondered whether her husband had found her beautiful first thing in the morning, with her hair askew, the way Travis did when he saw Gabby.Nicholas Sparks -- The Choice
- At the head of the stairs, he paused to straighten a mask that had been knocked askew.Mal Peet -- Tamar
askew = not right
askew = crooked
askew = twisted to the side (not in proper alignment)
askew = crooked (not in proper alignment)
askew = not right, or not as planned
askew = [so they were] not on straight
askew = not straight
askew = not on straight