erroneous
adjective
er·ro·ne·ous
i-ˈrō-nē-əs 
e-
1
2
archaic
: wandering
erroneously
adverb
erroneousness
noun
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How to Define Erroneous
Erroneous basically means "containing errors", and, since most of us are constantly suffering from mistaken notions, the word is often used in front of words such as "assumption" and "idea". It's also used to describe the kind of mistaken information that can lead to erroneous theories, erroneous conclusions, and erroneous decisions.
Synonyms
Examples of erroneous in a Sentence
When you're done, the programs scour your return for potential problems and erroneous data and let you correct them. Then, poof! Either print out your 1040 and related documents or follow the software prompts to file electronically.
—
Kathy Yakal, PC Magazine, 9 Mar. 1999
Here we come face-to-face with the uncompromising rules of golf as Mr. Dobereiner recounts how Roberto de Vincenzo lost the 1968 Masters Tournament by a single stroke because he signed an erroneous scorecard.
—Robert R. Harris, New York Times Book Review, 21 Oct. 1984
To say truth, nothing is more erroneous than the common observation, that men who are ill-natured and quarrelsome when they are drunk, are very worthy persons when they are sober: for drink, in reality, doth not reverse nature, or create passions in men which did not exist in them before.
—Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, 1749
a poorly researched news article about the new virus that was filled with much erroneous information
Kathy Yakal, PC Magazine, 9 Mar. 1999
Here we come face-to-face with the uncompromising rules of golf as Mr. Dobereiner recounts how Roberto de Vincenzo lost the 1968 Masters Tournament by a single stroke because he signed an erroneous scorecard.
—Robert R. Harris, New York Times Book Review, 21 Oct. 1984
To say truth, nothing is more erroneous than the common observation, that men who are ill-natured and quarrelsome when they are drunk, are very worthy persons when they are sober: for drink, in reality, doth not reverse nature, or create passions in men which did not exist in them before.
—Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, 1749
a poorly researched news article about the new virus that was filled with much erroneous information
Recent Examples on the Web
Ross reportedly threatened to fire officials who oversee the National Weather Service after forecasters tried to correct an erroneous hurricane warning from Trump.
—Scott Horsley, NPR, 19 Nov. 2024
Checking for fraud Be careful with this one, because there are a lot of erroneous reports during the election season.
—John Brandon, Forbes, 3 Nov. 2024
Pennsylvania does not have a statewide requirement to cure erroneous mail ballots, however, a 2022 court decision permitted county election departments the ability to correct those errors.
—Ivan Pereira, ABC News, 30 Oct. 2024
Theoretically, this erroneous scenario could be reduced by using a second AI model trained to pick out areas of confusing audio where the Whisper model is likely to confabulate and flag the transcript in that location, so a human could manually check those instances for accuracy later.
—Benj Edwards, WIRED, 30 Oct. 2024
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Scott Horsley, NPR, 19 Nov. 2024
Checking for fraud Be careful with this one, because there are a lot of erroneous reports during the election season.
—John Brandon, Forbes, 3 Nov. 2024
Pennsylvania does not have a statewide requirement to cure erroneous mail ballots, however, a 2022 court decision permitted county election departments the ability to correct those errors.
—Ivan Pereira, ABC News, 30 Oct. 2024
Theoretically, this erroneous scenario could be reduced by using a second AI model trained to pick out areas of confusing audio where the Whisper model is likely to confabulate and flag the transcript in that location, so a human could manually check those instances for accuracy later.
—Benj Edwards, WIRED, 30 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for erroneous
Articles Related to erroneous
Dictionary Entries Near erroneous
Cite this Entry
“Erroneous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/erroneous. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
erroneous
adjective
er·ro·ne·ous
ir-ˈō-nē-əs
e-ˈrō-
: being wrong or inaccurate
especially
: being or containing an error
an erroneous report
erroneously
adverb
erroneousness
noun
Legal Definition
erroneous
adjective
er·ro·ne·ous
i-ˈrō-nē-əs, e-
: containing or characterized by error see also clearly erroneous
erroneously
adverb
erroneousness
noun
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