Was, if misconstrued, associated with strays (5)

I believe the answer is:

waifs

'strays' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'was if misconstrued' is the wordplay.
'misconstrued' indicates an anagram.
'was'+'if'='wasif'
'wasif' is an anagram of 'WAIFS'.

'associated with' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for waifs that I've seen before include "Forsaken children" , "Strays" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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