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AMISS
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Not functioning properly
Example:
something is wrong with the engine
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Similar:
malfunctioning; nonfunctional (not performing or able to perform its regular function)
II. (adverb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
In an imperfect or faulty way
Example:
Miss Bennet would not play at all amiss if she practiced more
Synonyms:
amiss; imperfectly
Classified under:
Sense 2
Meaning:
In an improper or mistaken or unfortunate manner
Example:
no one took it amiss when she spoke frankly
Classified under:
Sense 3
Meaning:
Away from the correct or expected course
Example:
something went badly amiss in the preparations
Synonyms:
amiss; awry
Classified under:
Adverbs
Context examples:
Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
"Not at all," said he: "I care for myself when necessary. I am well now. What do you see amiss in me?"
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Now tell me what's amiss with me?
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I hope this history of my conduct towards her will be admitted by you and my father as great extenuation of what you saw amiss.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
He did not appear in spirits: something unconnected with her was probably amiss.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
Nothing seemed amiss on the side of the Great House family, which was generally, as Anne very well knew, the least to blame.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
But when did she judge amiss?
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
When they got into the hall, Jo asked Laurie if she had said something amiss.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
Perhaps, however, he is kept silent by his fear of offending, and I shall, therefore, give him a hint, by a line to Oxford, that his sister and I both think a letter of proper submission from him, addressed perhaps to Fanny, and by her shewn to her mother, might not be taken amiss; for we all know the tenderness of Mrs. Ferrars's heart, and that she wishes for nothing so much as to be on good terms with her children.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
Even the fire on the hearth left off blazing, and went to sleep; the jack stopped, and the spit that was turning about with a goose upon it for the king’s dinner stood still; and the cook, who was at that moment pulling the kitchen-boy by the hair to give him a box on the ear for something he had done amiss, let him go, and both fell asleep; the butler, who was slyly tasting the ale, fell asleep with the jug at his lips: and thus everything stood still, and slept soundly.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
