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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. adj. Out of proper order: What is amiss?
  2. adj. Not in perfect shape; faulty.
  3. adv. In an improper, defective, unfortunate, or mistaken way.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. Away from the mark; out of the way; out of the proper course or order; in a faulty manner; wrongly; in a manner contrary to propriety, truth, law, or morality.
  2. Improper; wrong; faulty: used only in the predicate: as, it may not be amiss to ask advice.
  3. n. Fault; wrong: as, “some great amiss,”

Wiktionary

  1. adj. Wrong; faulty; out of order; improper; as, it may not be amiss to ask advice.
  2. adv. Mistakenly.
  3. adv. Astray.
  4. adv. Wrongly.
  5. n. Fault; wrong; an evil act, a bad deed.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. adv. Astray; faultily; improperly; wrongly; ill.
  2. adj. Wrong; faulty; out of order; improper.
  3. n. A fault, wrong, or mistake.

WordNet 3.0

  1. adj. not functioning properly
  2. adv. in an improper or mistaken or unfortunate manner
  3. adv. in an imperfect or faulty way
  4. adv. away from the correct or expected course

Etymologies

  1. Middle English amis, probably from Old Norse ā mis, so as to miss : ā, on; see an- in Indo-European roots + mis, act of missing; see mei-1 in Indo-European roots.

Examples

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Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘amiss’.

Comments

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  • PossibleUnderscore "You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you might consume it upon thy lusts.�?
    -Bible
    Jul 28, 2009

  • bilby
    Her sonne new dead, some briny drops to shed?
    When she a while hath spoke her griefe in teares,
    With patience then, of patience she heares.
    Out of due season who so Physicke gi's,
    Though it cause health, yet hath he done amisse.
    And friendly counsell vrged out of date
    Doth fret the sore and cause the hearers hate.

    - Sir Thomas Overbury, 'The Remedy of Loue'. Jul 28, 2009

‘amiss’ has been looked up 2158 times, loved by 1 person, added to 23 lists, commented on 2 times, and has a Scrabble score of 7.