adj, adv ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective

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

   "The frame was awry."

2. 2
   Wrong or distorted; perverse, amiss, off course figuratively

   "There is something awry with this story."

Adjective

1. 1
   not functioning properly wordnet
2. 2
   turned or twisted toward one side wordnet

Adverb

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

Adverb

1. 1
   away from the correct or expected course wordnet
2. 2
   turned or twisted to one side wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

amissaskewcrookedlyobliquelyperverseaberrant

Example

More examples

"The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry."

Etymology

From Middle English awry, awrie. By surface analysis, a- + wry.

Related phrases

go awry

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.