wrong

Incorrect or untrue.

Adjective

  1. Incorrect or untrue.
    • Some of your answers were correct, and some were wrong.
    • Among this princely heap, if any here / By false intelligence or wrong surmise / Hold me a foe […] - c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares...
    • You are not wrong, who deem / That my days have been a dream; / Yet if hope has flown away / In a night, or in a day, / In a vision, or in none, / Is it therefore the less gone? - 1849 March 31, Edgar Allan Poe, “A...
  2. Asserting something incorrect or untrue.
    • You're wrong: he's not Superman at all.
  3. Immoral, not good, bad.
    • It is wrong to lie.
    • Shepard: Some part of you must still realize this is wrong. You can fight this! - 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Council Chambers, Citadel:
  4. Improper; unfit; unsuitable.
    • A bikini is the wrong thing to wear on a cold day.
  5. Not working; out of order.
    • Something is wrong with my cellphone.
    • Don't cry, honey. Tell me what's wrong.
  6. Designed to be worn or placed inward.
    • the wrong side of a garment or of a piece of cloth

    Synonyms: back

    Antonyms: right front

  7. Twisted; wry.
    • a wrong nose

Origin

From Middle English wrong, from Old English wrang (“wrong, twisted, uneven”), from Old Norse rangr, vrangr (“crooked, wrong”), from Proto-Germanic *wrangaz (“crooked, twisted, turned awry”), from Proto-Indo-European *werḱ-, *wrengʰ- (“to twist, weave, tie together”), from *wer- (“to turn, bend”). Cognate with Scots wrang (“wrong”), Danish vrang (“wrong, crooked”), Swedish vrång (“perverse, distorted”), Icelandic rangur (“wrong”), Norwegian Nynorsk rang (“wrong”), Dutch wrang (“bitter, sour”) and the first element in the mythic Old Frisian city of Rungholt (“crooked wood”). More at wring.

Forms

more wrong most wrong

Synonyms

injurious unjust faulty detrimental unfit unsuitable false

Antonyms

right

Derived

back the wrong horse bark at the wrong tree begin at the wrong end can't do right for doing wrong choose the wrong horse comb someone's hair the wrong way correct me if I'm wrong dead wrong dead-wrong don't get me wrong do somebody wrong fall into the wrong hands get into the wrong hands get off on the wrong foot get on someone's wrong side get out of bed on the wrong side get the wrong idea get up on the wrong side of bed get up on the wrong side of the bed get wrong go down the wrong pipe go down the wrong throat gone wrong in the wrong place at the wrong time

Adverb

  1. In a way that isn't right; incorrectly, wrongly.
    • I spelled several names wrong in my address book.
    • You're doing it all wrong!
    • `Then, just as I was, I walked out of the house and went to the recruiting-office, stating my age wrong.' - 1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 131:

Forms

more wrong most wrong

Noun

  1. Something that is immoral or not good.
    • Injustice is a heinous wrong.

    Synonyms: depravity iniquity sin atrocity infamy outrage turpitude wickedness wrong

  2. An instance of wronging someone (sometimes with possessive to indicate the wrongdoer).
    • Can she excuse my wrongs with Virtue's cloak? Shall I call her good when she proves unkind? - 1597, John Dowland, The First Booke of Songes or Ayres, Part V:

    Synonyms: hardship sorrow wrongdoing crime delict delinquency error malfeasance misdeed misdemeanor misdoing offense peccadillo sin tort tortfeasance transgression veniality wrong affliction aggrievance distress grief grievance

  3. The incorrect or unjust position or opinion.
    • I blame not her: she could say little less; She had the wrong. - c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies...

    Synonyms: error wrength wrongness wrongfulness

  4. The opposite of right; the concept of badness.
    • Thus much of this will make Black white, foul fair, wrong right, Base noble, old young, coward valiant. - c. 1605–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares...

    Synonyms: impropriety roguery bad manners badness delinquency devilishness devilment devilry deviltry disobedience elfishness goings-on hanky-panky impishness misbehavior mischief mischievousness misconduct misdemeanor monkey business naughtiness prankishness pranksomeness puckishness

Forms

wrongs

Derived

in the wrong

Verb

  1. To treat unjustly; to injure or harm; to do wrong by.
    • The dealer wronged us by selling us this lemon of a car.
    • Thou dost then wrong me, as that slaughterer doth Which giveth many wounds when one will kill. - 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies,...
  2. To deprive of some right, or to withhold some act of justice.
    • ... And might by no suit gain our audience. When we are wrong'd and would unfold our griefs, We are denied access unto his person Even by those men that most have done us wrong. - c. 1596–1599 (date written), William...
  3. To slander; to impute evil to unjustly.
    • O masters! if I were dispos'd to stir Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage, I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong, Who (you all know) are honorable men. I will not do them wrong; I rather choose To wrong the...

    Synonyms: libel malign traduce assassinate asperse backbite badmouth befoul belibel besmirch besmear bewray blacken blame blaze blemish blot blur calumniate calumny chat shit chat shite cloud defame

Forms

wrongs wronging wronged

Related

wronged wrung

Derived

awrong bark up the wrong tree civil wrong go down the wrong way go wrong in the wrong my country, right or wrong put a foot wrong rub someone the wrong way self-wrong start off on the wrong foot take the wrong way two wrongs don't make a right two wrongs make a right wrongdoing wronger wrong-foot wrongful wrongfully wronghead wrong-headed wrongless wrongly wrongness