agley

or a·gly

[ uh-glee, uh-gley, uh-glahy ]

adverbChiefly Scot.
  1. off the right line; awry; wrong.

Origin of agley

1
1775–85; a-1 + gleyglee2

Words Nearby agley

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use agley in a sentence

  • What a joy it is in a vexatious world, where things 'gang aft agley,' to find something absolutely right.

  • Burns tells us that “the well-laid schemes of mice and men gang aft agley.”

    A Raw Recruit's War Experiences | Ansel D. Nickerson
  • He didn't intend that any strange girl should throw all his plans agley, for she had done more than mischief enough already.

    The Brass Bound Box | Evelyn Raymond
  • But, like the plans of the little field mouse of whom Robert Burns wrote, the best laid schemes "gang aft agley."

    The Barrel Mystery | William J. (William James) Flynn
  • But "The best-laid schemes o' mice and men Gang aft agley," as the priest-governed schemers may find to their cost.

    Ireland as It Is | Robert John Buckley (AKA R.J.B.)

British Dictionary definitions for agley

agley

aglee (əˈɡliː)

/ (əˈɡleɪ, əˈɡlaɪ, əˈɡliː) /


adverb, adjective
  1. Scot awry; askew

Origin of agley

1
from gley squint

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012