Word definition: wrong

Etimology


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.

adjective


wrong (comparative more wrong or wronger, superlative most wrong or wrongest)

Incorrect or untrue.

Asserting something incorrect or untrue.

Immoral, not good, bad.

Improper; unfit; unsuitable.

Not working; out of order.

Designed to be worn or placed inward

Twisted; wry.

Examples


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 […]

In this respect then, Gabriel's repetitive lyric of everyone playing: “games without frontiers and war without tears” was on the one hand quite funnily wrong. 'It's a Knockout' produced tears of laughter. […]

Throughout this time, Mystic Wolmar has been trying his luck and mostly getting it wrong - especially in 2006, when he got virtually everything wrong, including the departure of Tony Blair.

You're wrong: he's not Superman at all.

It is wrong to lie.

Shepard: Some part of you must still realize this is wrong. You can fight this!

A bikini is the wrong thing to wear on a cold day.

Something is wrong with my cellphone.

Don't cry, honey. Tell me what's wrong.

the wrong side of a garment or of a piece of cloth

a wrong nose

Related words


synonyms

injurious

unjust

faulty

detrimental

unfit

unsuitable

Thesaurus:false

antonyms

right

adverb


wrong (comparative more wrong, superlative most wrong)

(informal) In a way that isn't right; incorrectly, wrongly.

Examples


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.'

noun


wrong (plural wrongs)

Something that is immoral or not good.

An instance of wronging someone (sometimes with possessive to indicate the wrongdoer).

The incorrect or unjust position or opinion.

The opposite of right; the concept of badness.

Examples


Injustice is a heinous wrong.

Can she excuse my wrongs with Virtue's cloak? Shall I call her good when she proves unkind?

I blame not her: she could say little less; She had the wrong.

Thus much of this will make Black white, foul fair, wrong right, Base noble, old young, coward valiant.

Related words


synonyms

wrength

verb


wrong (third-person singular simple present wrongs, present participle wronging, simple past and past participle wronged)

To treat unjustly; to injure or harm.

To deprive of some right, or to withhold some act of justice.

To slander; to impute evil to unjustly.

Examples


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.

... 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.

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 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.

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