Quadratic-form criterion for a skew-symmetric matrix ($A^{\top }=-A⟺x^{\top }Ax=0\text{ for every real }x$)

Proof. For a skew-symmetric matrix, the scalar $x^{\top }Ax$ equals its transpose $x^{\top }{A}^{\top }x=-x^{\top }Ax$, so it vanishes. Conversely, substituting standard basis vectors $e_i$ into the vanishing quadratic form gives $a_{ii}=0$. Substituting $e_i+e_j$ gives $a_{ij}+a_{ji}=0$. Thus $A^{\top }=-A$. In particular, a real quadratic form depends only on a matrix's symmetric part.