schief
German
[edit]Etymology
[edit]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.
Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]schief (strong nominative masculine singular schiefer, comparative schiefer, superlative am schiefsten)
- skew, oblique, askew, leaning, slanting, aslant, inclined (neither parallel nor perpendicular)
- slopy, sloping (characterised by a slope or slopes)
- crooked, awry (set at an angle; not vertical or square)
- lopsided (not even or balanced; not the same on one side as on the other)
- (of facial expressions) wry (turned away, contorted)
- (of an image) distorted (misshapen; brought out of shape)
- worn (damaged and shabby as a result of much use)
- (figurative) inappropriate (not suitable for the situation, time, or place)
Declension
[edit]number & gender | singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | |||
predicative | er ist schief | sie ist schief | es ist schief | sie sind schief | |
strong declension (without article) |
nominative | schiefer | schiefe | schiefes | schiefe |
genitive | schiefen | schiefer | schiefen | schiefer | |
dative | schiefem | schiefer | schiefem | schiefen | |
accusative | schiefen | schiefe | schiefes | schiefe | |
weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der schiefe | die schiefe | das schiefe | die schiefen |
genitive | des schiefen | der schiefen | des schiefen | der schiefen | |
dative | dem schiefen | der schiefen | dem schiefen | den schiefen | |
accusative | den schiefen | die schiefe | das schiefe | die schiefen | |
mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein schiefer | eine schiefe | ein schiefes | (keine) schiefen |
genitive | eines schiefen | einer schiefen | eines schiefen | (keiner) schiefen | |
dative | einem schiefen | einer schiefen | einem schiefen | (keinen) schiefen | |
accusative | einen schiefen | eine schiefe | ein schiefes | (keine) schiefen |
Synonyms
[edit]- (oblique): schräg
Derived terms
[edit]Adverb
[edit]schief
- crookedly, at an angle
- lopsidedly
- (figurative) askance (sideways; obliquely)
- badly, wrong (in a way that isn't right)
Further reading
[edit]- “schief” in Duden online
- “schief” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- Friedrich Kluge (1883) “schief”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891
- German terms inherited from Middle High German
- German terms derived from Middle High German
- German terms derived from Middle Low German
- German terms derived from Old Saxon
- German terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- German 1-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:German/iːf
- Rhymes:German/iːf/1 syllable
- German terms with audio pronunciation
- German lemmas
- German adjectives
- German adverbs