incongruously.

In a way that seems mismatched with the surrounding circumstances, style or expectations.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• incongruously cheerful
• stand incongruously

On the page

An incongruously cheerful tune played while the visitors waited for the troubling announcement.

The bright new sign stood incongruously against the weathered stone entrance.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: Invariable adverb; use more or most only where natural. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: description, narrative analysis, characterization, contrast. Disciplines: literary analysis, prose writing, advanced general English. Commonness: moderately common.