mistakenly
adverb
Simple meaning
By accident or doing something wrong.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
mihstaykuhnleeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
mɪsˈteɪkənli
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adverb
By accident; by mistake; in error (without intention to do so).
Wrongly; erroneously.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: By accident; by mistake; in error (without intention to do so).
Used this way, mistakenly is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It suits reflective writing more than quick conversation.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Slightly formal
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Fortunate or pleasantly unexpected
- Usage feel
- Reflective and slightly elevated
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use mistakenly
- “He mistakenly believed it.”adverb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.