schief

Meaning

Adj

1. skew, oblique, askew, leaning, slanting, aslant, inclined (neither parallel nor perpendicular)
2. slopy, sloping (characterised by a slope or slopes)
3. crooked, awry (set at an angle; not vertical or square)
4. lopsided (not even or balanced; not the same on one side as on the other)
5. wry (turned away, contorted)
6. distorted (misshapen; brought out of shape)
7. worn (damaged and shabby as a result of much use)
8. (figuratively) inappropriate (not suitable for the situation, time, or place)

Adv

1. crookedly, at an angle
2. lopsidedly
3. (figuratively) askance (sideways; obliquely)
4. badly, wrong (in a way that isn't right)

Concepts

crooked

skew

lopsided

aslant

oblique

sloping

askance

awry

cross

askew

wry

raked

sideways

slanting

slantwise

tilted

twisted

not straight

slopewise

acock

slanty

bent

cockeyed

crookedly

deformed

distorted

funny

😄

inclinated

inclined

leaning

misshapen

Synonyms

schräg

krumm

quer

indirekt

windschief

geneigt

diagonal

verzogen

seitwärts

wellig

Seite

uneben

ungeraten

verdreht

verkehrt

verschoben

bogenförmig

Schräge

Mittelweg

verbogen

geschnitten

von der Seite her

schiefstellend

abfallend

schepp

blind

einäugig

einseitig

Entwicklung

Gang

gebeugt

Gegend

Kante

Kompromiss

Translations

scheef

schuin

obliquo

torcido

çarpık

eğri

torto

de travers

oblique

inclinato

oblicuo

tordu

inclinado

storto

Dialects

Basel-Landschaft

schäärbis

Basel-Landschaft

scheps

Basel-Landschaft

schieff

Data provided by: Deutsch-Schweizerdeutsches Wörterbuch

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ʃiːf/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle High German: schief

Cognate with Luxembourgish: scheef

Cognate with Dutch: scheef

Cognate with Old English:

Cognate with Old Norse: skeifr

In summary

From northern Middle High German schief, schīf (etc.), from Middle Low German schêf, from Old Saxon *skêf, from Proto-West Germanic *skaib, from Proto-Germanic *skaibaz.
Regular High German cognates exist only in north-western Central German; compare Central Franconian scheif, northernmost Luxembourgish scheef. Otherwise it was borrowed from Low German into the colonial dialects, i.e. East Central German, with fallible phonetic interpretation of the original form (hence variously -ie-, -ī-, -ē-, -ei-, -b-, -f-, etc.). The word established itself in standard German during the 18th century. Cognate with Dutch scheef, Old English *sc(e)āf (in scāffōt), Old Norse skeifr.