What does erroneous mean?

We use “erroneous” to mean “mistaken”, “false” or “containing errors”. It’s an adjective related to the noun “error”. We often use it with “information” (“erroneous information”) but can be used with many other nouns as well.

Here are some examples:

–    He was given erroneous information.

–    I’m sorry I did that, but my information was erroneous.

–    The email was erroneous.

–    The scientist made a mistake because she was using erroneous data.

–    The newspaper report about the events was quite erroneous.

–    They were acting on the erroneous belief that they were within the law.

–    Everything went wrong because we were using erroneous measurements.

The related adverb is “erroneously”:

–    He was speaking erroneously when he said that he had been at home all day.

–    The reporter erroneously said that it was the coldest day of the year.

–    She erroneously thought that she was the only person there.

–    He erroneously pressed the wrong button.

Some synonyms for erroneous are:

–    Wrong

–    Incorrect

–    Inaccurate

–    Untrue

–    Mistaken

–    False

–    Fallacious

–    Faulty

–    Unfounded

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With thanks to Vladislav for the question