incongruously

adverb

as in inappropriately

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of incongruously During the day the colorless Orb suggests an egg on steroids, incongruously suspended behind the Betsy over the alleyway at 14th Street. — Elisa Turner, Miami Herald, 29 Oct. 2026 But all that warm, crowd-pleasing material is incongruously, fascinatingly, and not so comfortably fitted inside a story about great loss. — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 22 Oct. 2026 The neighborhood/area A mile and a half away lies the pretty village of Lyndhurst, with its tourist-coaxing fudge shops and pubs, and a Ferrari dealer plonked incongruously among the red brick and timber quaintness. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026 Fightland feels incongruously sanitized throughout, without actually being appropriate (or engaging) for all ages. — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 30 July 2026 Along beaches that had been stripped of their vegetation, icebergs sat incongruously high on rocks. — Megan I. Gannon, Scientific American, 6 May 2026 One side story, of a former pro athlete caught in a downward spiral of violence, addiction, and ill health, feels incongruously grim. — Judy Berman, Time, 11 Mar. 2026 What remains is an incongruously passive and intense ride that feels eerily algorithmic throughout. — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 23 Jan. 2026 Also incongruously quick for his size is Tustin junior defensive lineman Jeremiah Williams (6-1, 311). — Steve Fryer, Oc Register, 12 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incongruously
  1. inappropriately
  2. improperly
  3. wrongly
  4. incorrectly
  5. unsuitably
Adverb
  • In many cases, boards and investors focused on ethical breaches, such as executives using company funds inappropriately or advancing the careers of romantic partners who reported to them.
    — Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 9 Nov. 2026
  • Moore was convicted in 2013 in an unrelated incident of inappropriately touching a 16-year-old boy.
    — Jack Harvel, Kansas City Star, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of inappropriately
Adverb
  • Some voters were improperly kicked off the voting rolls because of address mistakes contained in voter information Watson had purchased from the Experian credit rating agency, the news site Mississippi Today reported Friday.
    — Gregory S. Schneider The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 11 Nov. 2026
  • Oklahoma alleged the company improperly charged pharmacies transaction fees between September 2020 and October 2021.
    — Suzanne Blake, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Nov. 2026
Definition of improperly
Adverb
  • This day, Newsom recalls being joined by Pete Pianezzi, a former bank robber wrongly convicted of a 1937 Los Angeles double homicide.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 10 Nov. 2026
  • Paoletta said the Democratic congressman was wrongly characterizing the scope of the original, century-old construction plan, citing correspondence from long-ago officials.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of wrongly
Adverb
  • A number of calls were either seemingly mishandled, called incorrectly or slanted in favor of one side or the other.
    — Ian Miller OutKick, FOXNews.com, 11 Nov. 2026
  • According to the outlet, a military analyst using an AI chatbot to prepare an intelligence assessment of a Chinese vessel incorrectly concluded that the ship was transporting nuclear materials.
    — Keren Yarhi-Milo, Time, 8 Nov. 2026
Definition of incorrectly
Adverb
  • The official investigation found no fault with either aircraft but that three planes had occupied the same airspace, which was deemed to have been unsuitably monitored over the Kharkiv region.
    — Colin Millar, New York Times, 27 June 2026
Definition of unsuitably

Browse Nearby Words

incongruous
incongruously
incongruousness
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Incongruously.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incongruously. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

The Words of the Week - Nov. 13

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
speech-bubble-untangle
Simplify The Convoluted Expression Quiz A quiz that’s as “uncomplicated as a round de...
See All