awry Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective satellite turned or twisted toward one side
    skew-whiff; lopsided; wonky; askew; cockeyed.
    • a...youth with a gorgeous red necktie all awry"- G.K.Chesterton
    • his wig was, as the British say, skew-whiff
  2. adjective satellite not functioning properly
    amiss; wrong; haywire.
    • something is amiss
    • has gone completely haywire
    • something is wrong with the engine
  3. adverb away from the correct or expected course
    amiss.
    • something has gone awry in our plans
    • something went badly amiss in the preparations
  4. adverb turned or twisted to one side
    skew-whiff; askew.
    • rugs lying askew
    • with his necktie twisted awry

WordNet

A*wry" adverb & adjective
Etymology
Pref. a- + wry.
Definitions
  1. Turned or twisted toward one side; not in a straight or true direction, or position; out of the right course; distorted; obliquely; asquint; with oblique vision; as, to glance awry. "Your crown's awry." Shak.
    Blows them transverse, ten thousand leagues awry. Into the devious air. Milton.
  2. Aside from the line of truth, or right reason; unreasonable or unreasonably; perverse or perversely.
    Or by her charms Draws him awry, enslaved. Milton.
    Nothing more awry from the law of God and nature than that a woman should give laws to men. Milton.

Webster 1913