scheef

Meaning

Adj

1. crooked, not level or straight
2. (informal) weird, not right

Noun

shive, i.e. fragment of the woody core of flax or hemp

Pronounced as (IPA)

/sxeːf/

Etymology

From Middle Dutch scheyff, from Proto-West Germanic *skēf, from Proto-West Germanic *skaib, from Proto-Germanic *skaibaz ‘crooked, askew’, from Proto-Indo-European *skeh₂iwo-.
Compare Latin scaevus (“left, clumsy”), Ancient Greek σκαιός (skaiós, “rude; brusque”), Latvian šķìbs (“crooked”). Cognate with German schief, Old English *sc(e)āf (in scāffōt (“splay-footed”)), Swedish skev.

Sentences

Het portret hing scheef aan de muur .

The portrait hung crookedly on the wall.