(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
If you say there is something ~, you mean there is something unsatisfactory about the situation, person, or thing you are talking about.
Pain is the body’s way of telling us that something is ~...
Nobody seemed to notice anything ~...
What’s ~ with him?
? right
ADJ: v-link ADJ, oft ADJ with n
2.
If you choose the ~ thing, person, or method, you make a mistake and do not choose the one that you really want.
He went to the ~ house...
The ~ man had been punished...
Could you have given them the ~ drug by mistake?...
There is no right or ~ way to do these exercises.
? right
ADJ: usu ADJ n
•
Wrong is also an adverb.
You’ve done it ~...
I must have dialed ~.
? right
ADV: ADV after v
3.
If something such as a decision, choice, or action is the ~ one, it is not the best or most suitable one.
I really made the ~ decision there...
The ~ choice of club might limit your chances of success...
We got married when I was 30 for all the ~ reasons.
? right
ADJ: ADJ n
4.
If something is ~, it is incorrect and not in accordance with the facts.
How do you know that this explanation is ~?...
20 per cent of the calculations are ~.
...a clock which showed the ~ time...
Lots of people got the questions ~.
? right
ADJ
•
Wrong is also an adverb.
I must have added it up ~, then...
It looks like it’s spelled ~...
I can see exactly where he went ~.
ADV: ADV after v
~ly
A child was ~ly diagnosed as having a bone tumour...
Civilians assume, ~ly, that everything in the military runs smoothly.
ADV: ADV with v
5.
If something is ~ or goes ~ with a machine or piece of equipment, it stops working properly.
We think there’s something ~ with the computer...
Something must have gone ~ with the satellite link.
ADJ: v-link ADJ, usu ADJ with n
6.
If you are ~ about something, what you say or think about it is not correct.
I was ~ about it being a casual meeting...
It would be ~ to assume that rich countries will always be able to insulate themselves with drugs against the ravages of new diseases...
I’m sure you’ve got it ~. Kate isn’t like that...
It’s been very nice to prove them ~.
? right
ADJ: v-link ADJ, oft ADJ about n, ADJ in -ing, it v-link ADJ to-inf, ADJ to-inf
7.
If you think that someone was ~ to do something, you think that they should not have done it because it was bad or immoral.
She was ~ to leave her child alone...
We don’t consider we did anything ~.
? right
ADJ: ADJ to-inf
•
Wrong is also a noun.
...a man who believes that he has done no ~.
N-UNCOUNT
8.
Wrong is used to refer to activities or actions that are considered to be morally bad and unacceptable.
Is it ~ to try to save the life of someone you love?...
They thought slavery was morally ~...
The only thing I consider ~ is when you hurt someone...
There is nothing ~ with journalists commenting on the attractiveness of artists.
ADJ: v-link ADJ, oft it v-link ADJ to-inf/that
•
Wrong is also a noun.
Johnson didn’t seem to be able to tell the difference between right and ~.
? right
N-UNCOUNT
9.
A ~ is an unfair or immoral action.
I intend to right that ~...
The insurance company should not be held liable for the ~s of one of its agents.
N-COUNT
10.
If someone ~s you, they treat you in an unfair way.
You have ~ed my mother...
She felt she’d been ~ed...
Those who have ~ed must be ready to say: ‘We have hurt you by this injustice.’
VERB: V n, V n, V
11.
You use ~ to describe something which is not thought to be socially acceptable or desirable.
If you went to the ~ school, you won’t get the job...
ADJ: ADJ n
12.
If a situation goes ~, it stops progressing in the way that you expected or intended, and becomes much worse.
It all went horribly ~...
PHRASE: V inflects
13.
If someone who is involved in an argument or dispute has behaved in a way which is morally or legally ~, you can say that they are in the ~.
He didn’t press charges because he was in the ~...
PHRASE: usu v-link PHR
14.
not far ~: see far
to get off on the ~ foot: see foot
to get hold of the ~ end of the stick: see stick
to be barking up the ~ tree: see tree