wrongly, adv.
(ˈrɒŋlɪ)
Also 4 wrongli, -liche; 5 north. wrangeli, 9 Sc. and north. dial. wrangly.
[f. wrong a. + -ly2. Cf. ON. rangliga, Norw. ranglege; MSw. vranglika, Da. vrangelig.]
1. In a wrong, undue, or inappropriate fashion; unfittingly, improperly. Also Comb.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 11069 Aȝens God, he ys nat quyte Þat suffreþ for hys owne profyte Holy cherche wrongly be ȝyue To þo men þat wykkedly lyue. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia iii. vii, So wrongly-consorted a power could not resist the ready minded force of Amphialus. a 1830 Sir T. Lawrence in Williams Life & Corr. (1831) I. 131, I began life wrongly, I spent more money than I earned, and accumulated debts. 1848 Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton ix, She..was so afraid of speaking wrongly, that she was silent. 1904 Daily Chron. 2 May 5/6 A wrongly-set switch. |
b. Inaccurately; incorrectly. Cf. wrongfully adv. 2.
| 1633 [? Ware] Spenser's State Irel. Pref. ¶ 3 b, He deceased at Westminster in the year 1599. (others have it wrongly 1598.) 1690 Locke Hum. Und. ii. xi. §13. 71 Mad Men,..having joined together some Ideas very wrongly,..mistake them for Truths. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) III. 414 The judgement is evidently misstated, or wrongly printed. 1858 [see urinometer]. 1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 735 If any houses have been omitted, or wrongly included under any heading. |
c. In an erroneous manner; by mistake or misapprehension; erroneously, mistakenly; = wrongfully adv. 2 b,
| 1755 Johnson, Misbeliever,..one who holds a false religion, or believes wrongly. 1809–14 Wordsw. Excurs. v. 508 What sees he but a creature..that yearns, Regrets or trembles, wrongly, or too much; Hopes rashly. 1838 James Robber iv, You construe what I have said very wrongly. 1884 tr. Lotze's Logic 407 To us, rightly or wrongly, general principles appear rather as [etc.]. 1918 Times Lit. Suppl. 28 Mar. 147/1 The methods..have, rightly or wrongly, largely fallen into discredit. |
2. In an unfair, unjust, or inequitable manner; unjustly, unfairly; = wrongfully adv. 1.
| 1340 Ayenb. 8 And yet zeneȝeþ he more þet deþ oþer porchaceþ ssame oþer harm to oþren wrongliche. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. iv. 92 False puple, That by-gylen good men and greueþ hem wrongliche. c 1400 Cato's Morals in Cursor M. App. 1672 A-gaine man riȝtwise striue þou in na wise, ne wrangeli him greue. 1419 26 Pol. Poems 69 To wynne wrongly wele, wod þey gan wede. c 1450 Myrr. our Ladye ii. 249 Many of them wrongly wandrynge from the ryghtnes of faythe. c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxix. ii, Wrongly sett to worke my woe. 1605 Shakes. Macb. i. v. 23 Thou..would'st not play false, And yet would'st wrongly winne. 1609 Daniel Civ. Wars v. ci, There he had his rightfull punishment, Though wrongly done; and there he lost his head. 1839–40 Wordsw. ‘The Roman Consul’ 10 When they by wilful act A single human life have wrongly taken. 1847 C. Brontë J. Eyre viii, I have been wrongly accused. |