as in incorrectly
in a mistaken or inappropriate way
she inappropriately referred to my chaperone as my father, and not as my stepfather
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Recent Examples of inappropriately
The documents indicate he was suspended for multiple weeks early in his career for things like excessive force, coming to work late, failure to report for duty and firing a gun inappropriately.
—
Michael Ruiz, FOXNews.com, 3 Apr. 2026
The Pope has been criticized by sanctimonious warmongers for being inappropriately religious.
—Pat Beall, Sun Sentinel, 3 Apr. 2026
Jack Gill, 24, of New Haven was arrested by the Hamden Police Department on March 27 and accused of inappropriately touching two students, ages 7 and 8, at Shepherd Glen Elementary School, according to the arrest warrant affidavits.
—Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 3 Apr. 2026
Republicans accused Hobbs of politicizing memorial decisions; Democrats say the GOP inappropriately injected politics into a traditionally nonpartisan government function.
—David A. Lieb, Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2026
Duggar is charged with lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim less than 12 years old and lewd and lascivious behavior conducted by a person 18 years or older for allegedly inappropriately touching a 9-year-old girl during a family vacation back in 2020.
—Theresa Braine, New York Daily News, 31 Mar. 2026
In an interview with CBS News Texas on Monday, Bazaldua said Tolbert acted inappropriately.
—Jack Fink, CBS News, 31 Mar. 2026
Stephanie Vaquer has spoken out after a fan behaved inappropriately toward her outside Madison Square Garden following the March 30 episode of Raw.
—Andrew Ravens, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Mar. 2026
Two more women said staff members groped them or touched them inappropriately.
—Erik Ortiz, NBC news, 27 Mar. 2026
Michael Ruiz, FOXNews.com, 3 Apr. 2026
The Pope has been criticized by sanctimonious warmongers for being inappropriately religious.
—Pat Beall, Sun Sentinel, 3 Apr. 2026
Jack Gill, 24, of New Haven was arrested by the Hamden Police Department on March 27 and accused of inappropriately touching two students, ages 7 and 8, at Shepherd Glen Elementary School, according to the arrest warrant affidavits.
—Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 3 Apr. 2026
Republicans accused Hobbs of politicizing memorial decisions; Democrats say the GOP inappropriately injected politics into a traditionally nonpartisan government function.
—David A. Lieb, Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2026
Duggar is charged with lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim less than 12 years old and lewd and lascivious behavior conducted by a person 18 years or older for allegedly inappropriately touching a 9-year-old girl during a family vacation back in 2020.
—Theresa Braine, New York Daily News, 31 Mar. 2026
In an interview with CBS News Texas on Monday, Bazaldua said Tolbert acted inappropriately.
—Jack Fink, CBS News, 31 Mar. 2026
Stephanie Vaquer has spoken out after a fan behaved inappropriately toward her outside Madison Square Garden following the March 30 episode of Raw.
—Andrew Ravens, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Mar. 2026
Two more women said staff members groped them or touched them inappropriately.
—Erik Ortiz, NBC news, 27 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inappropriately
Adverb
-
The unanimous decision from a three-judge appeals panel upheld Peter’s conviction but found the lower court had incorrectly sentenced her and infringed on her freedom of speech.—
Karissa Waddick,
USA Today,
2 Apr. 2026
-
The back-of-house hose was found incorrectly attached with no backflow preventor or air gap, causing potential dirty water to come back up from the sink.—
Paige Moore,
AZCentral.com,
1 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
Three American fighter jets were mistakenly downed by friendly Kuwaiti fire in the first days of the conflict in the midst of an Iranian air assault.—
Aamer Madhani,
Fortune,
31 Mar. 2026
-
The calamity in the Atlanta race quickly drew comparisons to other errors, where leaders have mistakenly followed lead cars exiting the race course shortly before the finish.—
Bill Chappell,
NPR,
31 Mar. 2026
Adverb
-
The Pitch reported in 2003 that the state had affirmed that King’s record was clean, and the charges were erroneously linked to his name.—
Ilana Arougheti,
Kansas City Star,
30 Mar. 2026
-
Energy Secretary Chris Wright erroneously posted — and then deleted — a message that the US Navy had escorted an oil tanker through the strait near Iran, only for the White House to concede no operation had occurred.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
11 Mar. 2026
Adverb
-
In 2024, Abbott recalled several lots of Libre 3 sensors due to inaccurately high readings.—
Elizabeth Chuck,
NBC news,
11 Mar. 2026
-
Trump was inaccurately describing federal data.—
CNN.com Wire Service,
Mercury News,
25 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Inappropriately.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inappropriately. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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