mistakenly
Americanadverb
-
unintentionally or inadvertently; by mistake.
I may have mistakenly interchanged them without realizing it.
-
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.
Etymology
Origin of mistakenly
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Techniques such as “receiver operating characteristic curve analysis” examine how changing the threshold for an alert alters the balance between correctly identifying real events and mistakenly flagging harmless ones.
From Salon • May 12, 2026
When generative AI systems give incorrect answers, people often describe the problem as AI "hallucinating at us," meaning the technology produces false information that users may mistakenly believe.
From Science Daily • May 11, 2026
At the same time, building contractors have been quick to remove trees that stand in the way of construction, while debris removal crews have cut down living trees that they mistakenly identified as dead.
From Los Angeles Times • May 7, 2026
Central banks in 2022 were behind the curve, mistakenly interpreting the pick-up in inflation as “transitory” and then being obliged to hike aggressively when it became clear it was more threatening than that.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 27, 2026
A large food processing company offered to buy the rights and sell the hot dogs in stores, but Milton, mistakenly thinking that popularity is eternal, rejected it.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
