Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adv. In a position that is turned or twisted toward one side; askew.
- adv. Away from the correct course; amiss. See Synonyms at amiss.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Turned or twisted toward one side; not in a straight or true direction or position; asquint: as, to glance or look awry; the lady's cap is awry.
- Figuratively, away from the line of truth or right reason; perverse or perversely.
- Of things: To turn out badly or untowardly; go wrong.
Wiktionary
- adv. Obliquely, crookedly; askew.
- adv. Perversely, improperly.
- adj. Turned or twisted toward one side; crooked, distorted, out of place.
- adj. Wrong or distorted; perverse, amiss.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adv. Turned or twisted toward one side; not in a straight or true direction, or position; out of the right course; distorted; obliquely; asquint; with oblique vision.
- adv. Aside from the line of truth, or right reason; unreasonable or unreasonably; perverse or perversely.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. turned or twisted toward one side
- adj. not functioning properly
- adv. away from the correct or expected course
- adv. turned or twisted to one side
Etymologies
- From a (preposition) + wry. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“She fought tears after finishing her balance beam routine that went awry from the start.”
“John Grishams first work of nonfiction, an exploration of small town justice gone terribly awry, is his most extraordinary legal thriller yet.”
“Where things go a little awry is when it comes to telling the truth.”
“EnlargeAP file photoJeff George stands as a cautionary tale for quarterbacks gone awry from the top overall draft spot.”
“Besides, if there was a pin awry in her dress, he did make such a fuss – and, really, such an active, busy young lady couldn't look always as if she came trim out of a band-box.”
“Tractor's one-off about the word awry touched me in that pace.”
“In this book, for example, the kids find their Hallowe’en going a bit awry from the start, but the taunting of the class mean girls really kicks the strange happenings into high gear.”
“Now too much has gone awry, that is out of alignment with our emotional compass.”
“It's a relationship that has gone awry, that is off to a start that is really not solid.”
“YOUNGER CLERIMONT: And what know I but the coy dame, who hides her face at the least word awry, and blushes to be gazed on, has in her heart looser fires than my gay mistress.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘awry’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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LIT - Ulysses - key words and phrases
vanish, number one, archangel, commodious, dominie, rubble, glisten, morose, spindle, ventilation, Blessed, christian and 503 more...
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When a door is ajar
Words with the prefix "a"
ajar, asleep, akin, ablaze, afoot, abed, aground, aback, afloat, alive, abaft, abloom and 91 more...
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Genes
Interesting gene names. Some of these may have changed recently (to something less offensive/funny).
http://www.genenames.org/
tinman, agnostic, dreadlocks, Van Gogh, fruitless, lava lamp, ariadne, cheap date, ken and barbie, I'm not dead yet, I'm not dead yet 2, manic fringe and 1192 more... -
Situation Normal
inspired by Mistakes Were Made. Words for things going wrong in a manner particularly violent, stupid, soul-crushing, boggling, grandiose, or any combination of these qualities.
fuckup, snafu, fiasco, abortion, miscarriage, implosion, contretemps, imbroglio, brouhaha, melee, kerfuffle, mayhem and 156 more...
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wry
Oh wry rie-awry
avowry, chowry, Newry, wryneck, wrying, wrybill, outlawry, inlawry, cowry, ewry, awry, wrythen and 10 more...
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Notable
undulate, priaprism, alphanumeric, conjure, love, roughshod, helpless, palatial, chortle, swimmingly, mustachioed, symbiotic and 21 more...
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Words with unusual spellings or pronu...
Herein are listed words with oddball spellings and words whose pronunciation does not reflect the spelling.
eleemosynary, Wednesday, colonel, posslq, zaqqum, qwerty, cinquefoil, qibla(h), minuscule, Cholmondeley, polyphloisboian, ptisan and 67 more...
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sarahochap1
english 7- summer school
apposite, jubilant, supplication, penchant, kiosk, apprehensive, ecology, insular, misnomer, culinary, rhetorical, awry and 13 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, A
abaculus, abacus, abaft, abarticular, abbreviate, abeyance, abiding, anthocyanin, antemeridian, arcane, adjure, adduce and 418 more...
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Words that Sound Wrong if You Say The...
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GRE 3500
abase, abash, abate, aberrant, abeyance, abjure, ablution, abut, accede, accentuate, acerbity, acetic and 133 more...
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GRE Words
abjure, unswear, state, rescission, indemnification, ab, reny, abnegate, vitiated, vitiate, adumbrated, abash and 378 more...
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Notre Dame de Paris
From Notre Dame de Paris by good ole Victor Hugo. (Also called The Hunchback of Notre Dame.)
cuivres, diable, hawthorn, provost, epithalamium, affrighted, mendicants, vagrants, Styx, chimeras, coif, matagrabolise and 196 more...
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SAT vocab
abash, abdicate, abate, aberration, abhor, abject, abnegate, abortive, absolve, abstruse, accolade, accost and 175 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for awry.
bilby - Gary Kamiya, 'Remember Iraq', 30 Sep 2008. Oct 1, 2008
bilby "Widespread opposition to and unhappiness with the war (and its expense) has long fueled a broader feeling that the U.S. is "on the wrong track" and needs change of some kind. About 80% of voters were voicing that feeling even before the recent financial collapse began. Much of it came from frustration over a major Vietnam-like military effort that, somehow, once again went terribly awry. Once again, we tried to save a nation by destroying it."
- Ira Chernus, 'How Forgotten Iraq May Elect the Next President', 30 Sep 2008. Oct 1, 2008
frindley Had a boyfriend once who pronounced this AWE-ree instead of uh-RYE. Kind of cute really. Mar 31, 2008
amcd56 Awry and askew - the story of my life. Jun 11, 2007