mistakenly
/mɪˈsteɪkənli/ (bre, ipa) · /mɪˈsteɪkənli/ (ame, ipa)
mistakenly — adverb
1. because of an incorrect belief, a wrong judgement, or an unintended action — not
because of an incorrect belief, a wrong judgement, or an unintended action — not because the person meant to be wrong
Tara mistakenly poured salt into her coffee instead of sugar at breakfast.
mistakenly + action verb describing an unintended physical error
The library staff mistakenly believed that the rare book had been returned last Tuesday.
collocation: mistakenly believe / assume / think (cognitive verbs)
Officers mistakenly identified Hao as the suspect because of a blurry photograph.
Many tourists mistakenly assume that all the temples in Kyoto charge an entrance fee.
Gabriela mistakenly sent the email to her boss instead of her sister.
- wrongly
broader; can also mean 'in a way that is morally wrong', while 'mistakenly' focuses on factual error or unintended action
- erroneously
more formal; common in academic, legal, or technical writing
- incorrectly
narrower; usually about answers, procedures, or results being inaccurate rather than beliefs
- inadvertently
emphasises lack of intention more than the error itself; useful when the action was unintentional rather than based on a wrong belief
- correctly
the most direct opposite when the action or belief turns out to be right
- deliberately
opposite in intent — done on purpose rather than by error or accident
- intentionally
opposite in intent; pairs with the same verbs (assumed, identified, sent)
文法句型
mistakenly + verb
mistakenly believe / assume / think / identify
用法筆記
Frequently modifies cognitive verbs (believe, assume, think, identify) when the speaker wants to mark that the belief or recognition turned out to be wrong; also pairs with action verbs (send, take, pour) for unintended physical errors. Position is typically before the main verb.