awry

awry

English

WOTD – 2 October 2008

Etymology

a- (preposition) +‎ wry

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /əˈɹaɪ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪ
• (nonstandard) IPA^(key): /ˈɔ.ɹaɪ/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Adverb

awry (comparative more awry, superlative most awry)

1. Obliquely, crookedly; askew.
2. Perversely, improperly.

Translations

obliquely, crookedly; askew

Bulgarian: накриво (bg) (nakrivo), косо (bg) (koso) Finnish: vinossa (fi), vinoon, kierossa, kieroon French: de travers (fr), de guingois (fr)

Polish: krzywo (pl), ukośnie Russian: кри́во (ru) (krívo), ко́со (ru) (kóso), на́бок (ru) (nábok) Swedish: sned (sv)

perversely, improperly

Bulgarian: неправилно (bg) (nepravilno), криво (bg) (krivo) Finnish: sopimattomasti (fi) Polish: niewłaściwie (pl), opacznie (pl) Russian: непра́вильно (ru) (neprávilʹno), неве́рно (ru) (nevérno), превра́тно (ru) (prevrátno)

Spanish: inadecuadamente Swedish: galet (sv), på tok Ukrainian: хибно (khýbno)

Adjective

awry (comparative more awry, superlative most awry)

1. Turned or twisted toward one side; crooked, distorted, out of place.

   The frame was awry.

2. Wrong or distorted; perverse, amiss.

   There is something awry with this story.

Usage notes

• As an adjective, awry is almost always used as a predicate adjective.

Quotations

• For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:awry.

Synonyms

• (misaligned): wonky (mostly UK)

Derived terms

• go awry

Translations

turned or twisted toward one side

Bulgarian: крив (bg) (kriv), изкривен (bg) (izkriven) Finnish: vino (fi), kiero (fi) Galician: torto (gl) German: krumm (de), schief (de)

Polish: krzywy (pl) Russian: криво́й (ru) (krivój), искривлённый (ru) (iskrivljónnyj), косо́й (ru) (kosój), искажённый (ru) (iskažónnyj) Spanish: torcido (es) Swedish: sned (sv)

wrong or distorted; perverse, amiss

Bulgarian: погрешен (bg) (pogrešen), неправилен (bg) (nepravilen) Finnish: sopimaton (fi) Polish: niewłaściwy (pl)

Russian: непра́вильный (ru) (neprávilʹnyj), неве́рный (ru) (nevérnyj), искажённый (ru) (iskažónnyj), превра́тный (ru) (prevrátnyj) Spanish: torcido (es)

Anagrams

• Wray, wary, wray