wrong
/rɒŋ
/adjective
1Not correct or true; incorrect: that is the wrong answer...
- The experimenter records whether that answer was correct or wrong.
- If the answer is wrong, the computer says the same and gives the correct answer.
- Instead of correcting the wrong bits I should have just thrown the whole analogy back at him.
Synonyms
incorrect, mistaken, in error, erroneous, inaccurate, not accurate, inexact, not exact, imprecise, invalid, untrue, false, fallacious, wide of the mark, off target;
misleading, illogical, unsound, unfounded, without foundation, faulty, flawed
informal off beam, bogus, phoney, out, way out, full of holes, dicey, iffy
British informal dodgy
archaic abroad
1.1 [predicative] Having judged incorrectly; mistaken: I was wrong about him being on the yacht that evening...
- On this appeal the Claimant contends that the Judge was wrong and should not in any event have decided the point summarily.
- Daunting as it nonetheless was, I was quite wrong to be so awed.
- Can all of those people in the audience be wrong and those few judges be right?
1.2Unsuitable or undesirable: the doctor may regard the patient’s decision as wrong...
- Shifting his imposing frame, his expression takes on a thunderous aspect, suggesting this is the wrong question to ask.
- Perhaps we have, like Alice, simply been asking the wrong question.
- A shadow seemed to pass over her face, and now it seemed that I had asked the wrong question.
Synonyms
inappropriate, unsuitable, inapt, inapposite, undesirable;
ill-advised, ill-considered, ill-judged, impolitic, injudicious, infelicitous, unacceptable, beyond the pale, unwarranted, unfitting, out of keeping, improper, unseemly, unbecoming, indecorous, lacking in propriety
informal out of order
1.3 [predicative] In a bad or abnormal condition; amiss: something was wrong with the pump...
- Doctors were unable to find out exactly what was wrong with Chloe and her condition remains undiagnosed.
- Dairy products were blamed for virtually everything medically wrong with the younger generation.
- She's seen innumerable specialists, all of whom have been baffled as to what could be wrong with her and then passing her on to someone else.
Synonyms
amiss, awry, out of order, not right, faulty, defective, unsatisfactory, incorrect, inappropriate
2Unjust, dishonest, or immoral: that was wrong of me [with infinitive]: they were wrong to take the law into their own hands...
- If it's wrong to extol virtue, it should be wrong to condemn a vice like hypocrisy.
- It is wrong to make it illegal to lower the cost of tax and lower the cost to seniors.
- Mr. Kelly added that it would be wrong to condemn the lack of a parade and then do nothing about it.
Synonyms
illegal, against the law, unlawful, illicit, indictable, lawless, lawbreaking, criminal, delinquent, felonious, dishonest, dishonourable, corrupt;
unethical, immoral, morally wrong, bad, wicked, base, evil, sinful, foul, despicable, iniquitous, nefarious, blameworthy, condemnable, culpable
informal crooked, shady
British informal bent, not cricket
adverb
1In an unsuitable or undesirable manner or direction: what am I doing wrong?...
- The 757 was intended to replace the 727, but for some reason Boeing got its market research wrong.
- Nothing like this has ever happened to her, she just doesn't understand what she did wrong and why somebody would want to hurt her.
- They're nasty and confusing and I'm obsessed that if I fill them in wrong they'll put me in prison or something.
1.1With an incorrect result: she guessed wrong...
- We guessed wrong both times, but that's the way it is sometimes.
- If you guess right you will appear to be a genius, if you guess wrong you will look foolish.
- ChoicePoint got his middle name wrong and reported that there was a bench warrant for his arrest in Arizona.
Synonyms
incorrectly, wrongly, inaccurately, erroneously, mistakenly;
inexactly, imprecisely, falsely
noun
An unjust, dishonest, or immoral act: I have done you a great wrong [mass noun]: I was trying to teach my children right from wrong...
- And there will be, inevitably, and quite immorally, an attempt to obscure the historical wrongs and the injustices that lie behind the firestorms.
- Both wrongs also constituted a criminal offence.
- I cannot see how it is possible to right the wrong of murder or another crime with killing someone.
Synonyms
misdeed, bad deed, bad act/action, offence, injury, crime, unlawful act, illegal act, violation, infringement, infraction, transgression, peccadillo, sin;
injustice, unfairness, unjust act, grievance, outrage, atrocity;
Law malfeasance, tort
archaic trespass
rare malefaction
verb [with object]
1Act unjustly or dishonestly towards: they would kill a man who wronged a family...
- Jules was capable of getting very aggressive towards people who wronged her and the people close to her.
- If a citizen is wronged by any party, he or she can count on it that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights will protect him and justice will prevail.
- They act with anger towards those who they feel have wronged them.
1.1Mistakenly attribute bad motives to; misrepresent: perhaps I wrong him...
- Typically, people who feel wronged by the media sue for libel.
- Because this is a novel, Glass can sketch nasty portraits of those close to him, all the while explaining how sorry he is that he wronged them.
- Efforts are being made to allow ordinary citizens a more prompt and accessible redress where they feel they were wronged in a newspaper report.
Synonyms
malign, misrepresent, do a disservice to, do an injustice to, dishonour, impugn, vilify, defame, slander, libel, denigrate, insult;
mistreat, do wrong to, abuse, maltreat, ill-treat, ill-use, harm, hurt, injure, do injury to, offend against, oppress
informal bad mouth, kick in the teeth, do the dirty on
Phrases
do wrong
do someone wrong
fall (or get) into the wrong hands
get someone wrong
get (hold of) the wrong end of the stick
go down the wrong way
go wrong
in the wrong
on the wrong side of
the wrong way round
two wrongs don't make a right
Derivatives
wronger
- He's a wronger alright.
- In this case, the wrongers are a bunch of young city slickers weekending in a small southern mountain town where they can practice their dirtbiking and boozing.
wrongness
/ noun ...- Against what standard is this wrongness measured?
- There's just a wrongness about him that makes my skin crawl.
- Need I elaborate on the wrongness of this interpretation?
Origin
Late Old English wrang, from Old Norse rangr 'awry, unjust'; related to wring.
An Old English word from Old Norse rangr ‘awry, unjust’, which first meant ‘crooked, curved, or twisted’ and is related to wring (Old English). Until the 17th century the wr- would have been pronounced, and there was obviously something about the sound that suggested the idea of twisting—many English words beginning with wr-, such as wrist, writhe, and wreathe (all OE), contain the notion. Although to get the wrong end of the stick now means ‘to misunderstand something’, the original sense seems to have been ‘to come off worse’. The example in The Swell's Night Guide, a guide to London low life published in 1846, gives an idea of what was wrong with the ‘wrong end’: ‘Which of us had hold of the crappy…end of the stick?’ The proverb two wrongs don't make a right dates from the late 18th century. The Hungarian-born psychiatrist Thomas Szasz summed up the feelings of many when he said in 1973: ‘Two wrongs don't make a right, but they make a good excuse.’