wrong
English
Etymology
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-, *werǵ-, *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.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɹɒŋ/
- (General American) enPR: rŏng, IPA(key): /ɹɔŋ/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (CA) (file) Audio (file) - Rhymes: -ɒŋ
Adjective
wrong (comparative more wrong or wronger, superlative most wrong or wrongest)
- Incorrect or untrue.
- Some of your answers were correct, and some were wrong.
- 1592, William Shakespeare, Richard III, Act II, Scene I:
- Among this princely heap, if any here / By false intelligence or wrong surmise / Hold me a foe […]
- Asserting something incorrect or untrue.
- You're wrong: he's not Superman at all.
- Immoral, not good, bad.
- It is wrong to lie.
- Improper; unfit; unsuitable.
- A bikini is the wrong thing to wear on a cold day.
- Not working; out of order.
- Something is wrong with my cellphone.
- Don't cry, honey. Tell me what's wrong.
- Designed to be worn or placed inward; as, the wrong side of a garment or of a piece of cloth.
- (obsolete) Twisted; wry.
- a wrong nose
Usage notes
- The single-word comparative and superlative forms wronger and wrongest are no longer in common use, except humorously; rather, the locutions “more wrong” and “most wrong” are preferred.
- When wrong is used attributively, before a noun, the noun is usually treated as definite, using the article the; hence, for example, one says, “I dialed the wrong number”, “he gave the wrong answer”, and “she took the wrong approach”, even though there are many possible wrong numbers, answers, and approaches, of which only one was dialed, given, or taken.
Derived terms
Antonyms
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
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Quotations
- 2007 January 3, Ken Miller, “The Collapse of Intelligent Design: Will the next Monkey Trial be in Ohio?”, Case Western University, Strosacker Auditorium
- that statement is wrong. Now that's not an incidental statement, that is the heart and soul of the Intelligent Design argument, and in this case it turns out to be wrong. Now it's even wronger than that [laughter] because it turns out that not only do these proteins make up the Type-III Secretory Apparatus but almost every protein in the bacerial flagellum is strongly homologous to proteins that have other functions elsewhere in the cell.
Adverb
wrong (comparative more wrong, superlative most wrong)
- (informal) In a way that isn't right; incorrectly, wrongly.
- I spelled several names wrong in my address book.
Translations
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Noun
wrong (plural wrongs)
- Something that is immoral or not good.
- Injustice is a heinous wrong.
- An instance of wronging someone (sometimes with possessive to indicate the wrongdoer).
- (Can we date this quote?) John Dowland:
- Can she excuse my wrongs with Virtue's cloak? Shall I call her good when she proves unkind?
- (Can we date this quote?) John Dowland:
- The incorrect or unjust position or opinion.
- 1592, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part III, Act IV, Scene I, line 101. — I blame not her: she could say little less; She had the wrong.
- The opposite of right; the concept of badness.
- 1607, William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, Act IV, Scene III, line 28. — Thus much of this will make Black white, foul fair, wrong right, Base noble, old young, coward valiant.
Synonyms
Translations
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Verb
wrong (third-person singular simple present wrongs, present participle wronging, simple past and past participle wronged)
- To treat unjustly; to injure or harm.
- The dealer wronged us by selling us this lemon of a car.
- 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part I, Act II, Scene IV, line 109. — Thou dost then wrong me, as that slaughterer doth Which giveth many wounds when one will kill.
- To deprive of some right, or to withhold some act of justice.
- 1597, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part II, Act IV, Scene I, line 121. — ... 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.
- To slander; to impute evil to unjustly.
- 1598, William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene II, line 121. — 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 dead, to wrong myself and you, Than I will wrong such honorable men.
Translations
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
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Derived terms
- awrong
- bark up the wrong tree
- civil wrong
- go down the wrong way
- go wrong
- in the wrong
- my country, right or wrong
- not that there's anything wrong with that
- put a foot wrong
- rub someone the wrong way
- self-wrong
- start off on the wrong foot
- take (something) the wrong way
- two wrongs don't make a right
- two wrongs make a right
- wrong side of bed
- wrong 'un
Dutch
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /vrɔŋ/
Audio (NL) (file) - Rhymes: -ɔŋ
Noun
wrong m (plural wrongen, diminutive wrongetje n)
Middle English
Etymology
From Old English wrang; ultimately from Proto-Germanic *wrangaz.
Noun
wrong (plural wronges)
Descendants
- English: wrong
References
- “wrong (n.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-18.
Adjective
wrong
- wicked, evil, (morally) wrong
- unjust, unfair, illegitimate
- unlawful, illegal
- inappropriate
- inaccurate, mistaken
- curved, crooked, bent
Related terms
- wrongful
- wrongfully, wrongfullich
References
- “wrong (adj.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-18.