amiss Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective satellite not functioning properly
    wrong; haywire; awry.
    • something is amiss
    • has gone completely haywire
    • something is wrong with the engine
  2. adverb away from the correct or expected course
    awry.
    • something has gone awry in our plans
    • something went badly amiss in the preparations
  3. adverb in an improper or mistaken or unfortunate manner
    • if you think him guilty you judge amiss
    • he spoke amiss
    • no one took it amiss when she spoke frankly
  4. adverb in an imperfect or faulty way
    imperfectly.
    • The lobe was imperfectly developed
    • Miss Bennet would not play at all amiss if she practiced more"- Jane Austen

WordNet

A*miss" adverb
Etymology
Pref. a- + miss.
Definitions
  1. Astray; faultily; improperly; wrongly; ill.
    What error drives our eyes and ears amiss? Shak.
    Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss. James iv. 3.
A*miss" adjective
Definitions
  1. Wrong; faulty; out of order; improper; as, it may not be amiss to ask advice. Used only in the predicate. Dryden.
    His wisdom and virtue can not always rectify that which is amiss in himself or his circumstances. Wollaston.
A*miss" noun
Definitions
  1. A fault, wrong, or mistake. Obs.
    Each toy seems prologue to some great amiss. Shak.

Webster 1913