Learn Greek › B1 › στραβά
στραβά
wrongly, crookedly /straˈva/
adverbB1#1010 most common
Also: askew, amiss, awry
Example sentences
Το έγραψε στραβά.
He wrote it wrong.
Περπατάει στραβά γιατί πονάει το πόδι του.
He walks crookedly because his leg hurts.
Τα κατάλαβες όλα στραβά.
You understood everything wrong.
Με κοίταξε στραβά όταν του το είπα.
He looked at me askance when I told him.
Αν ξεκινήσεις στραβά, δύσκολα θα διορθώσεις την πορεία σου.
If you start off wrong, you will hardly correct your course.
Στραβά κι ανάποδα, κατάφερε να τελειώσει τη δουλειά.
By crooked and roundabout means, he managed to finish the job.
Word family
στραβόςcrooked, bent, cross-eyed
στραβώνωto blind, to distort
στραβομάραblindness, foolish error
στραβοπατώto stumble, to misstep
στραβοκάνηςbow-legged
Etymology
Στραβά is the neuter plural form of the adjective στραβός, meaning crooked, bent, or cross-eyed, used here as an adverb. The adjective is linked to the verb στρέφω, to turn, though the exact prehistory of στρέφω is debated among linguists, and some treat it as a word of pre-Greek substrate origin rather than a clean inherited form. Because of that uncertainty, no secure Indo-European root can be given with confidence.
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