mistakenly

[ mi-stey-kuhn-lee ]

adverb

1. unintentionally or inadvertently; by mistake:

   I may have mistakenly interchanged them without realizing it.

2. in a way that is wrongly conceived, held, or done; incorrectly:

   Many people mistakenly believe their PhD will help them land a stable, middle-class job even if they can't get an academic job.

Word History and Origins

Origin of mistakenly¹

mistaken ( def ) + -ly

Example Sentences

A journalist was "mistakenly" told by police weeks before her death that she was not entitled to know if her former partner had any history of domestic abuse, an inquest has heard.

From BBC

Mr Howells wants access to the Docksway landfill site, where he claims a digital wallet was mistakenly dumped by his former partner.

From BBC

Birds, fish and whales can become injured or killed if they become entangled in plastic debris or mistakenly ingest it, leading to starvation.

From BBC

Like criminal or civil juries, citizen assemblies rely on the capacity of ordinary people to deliberate seriously and build bonds of trust, in ways that are often mistakenly assumed to be beyond them.

From Salon

In attempting to define the word on SNL, she cited an incident where US businesswoman Martha Stewart had mistakenly claimed a journalist who covered her legal proceedings was dead.

From BBC

Related Words

• erroneously
• falsely