I. wrong 1 S1 W1 /rɒŋ $ rɒːŋ/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Word Family: adverb : ↑ wrong , ↑ wrongly , ↑ wrongfully ; adjective : ↑ wrong , ↑ wrongful ; verb : ↑ wrong ; noun : ↑ wrong ]
[ Date: 1100-1200 ; Language: Old Norse ; Origin: rangr 'not correct or as planned' ]
1 . NOT CORRECT not correct, and not based on true facts OPP right :
Your calculations must be wrong.
I think I got question 3 wrong.
it is wrong to do something
It is wrong to assume that technological advance brings a higher quality of life.
I wish you’d stop trying to prove me wrong (=show that I am wrong) all the time.
2 . be wrong (about somebody/something) to not be right in what you think or believe about someone or something SYN mistaken OPP right :
No, you’re wrong. Brett wouldn’t do a thing like that.
I was wrong about the new guy – he’s not Belgian, he’s French.
That’s where you’re wrong! We never slept together.
3 . PROBLEMS used to describe a situation where there are problems, or when someone is ill or unhappy
there is something wrong/something is wrong
When he didn’t come back that night, I knew that something was wrong.
wrong with
What is wrong with our society? People just don’t seem to care any more.
Is anything wrong? You haven’t said more than two words since you got here.
Dave’s got something wrong with his foot.
Don’t worry, there’s nothing wrong.
4 . NOT THE RIGHT ONE not the one that you intended or the one that you really want OPP right :
The letter was delivered to the wrong address.
driving on the wrong side of the road
You’ve got the wrong man. I didn’t kill her.
I think we went the wrong way at that last turning.
There’s no one called Julia here. You must have the wrong number (=wrong telephone number) .
5 . NOT MORALLY RIGHT not morally right or acceptable OPP right
it is wrong that
It’s wrong that people should have to sleep on the streets.
it is wrong to do something
We all accept that it is wrong to torture people.
We weren’t doing anything wrong!
wrong with
There’s nothing wrong with making a profit, provided you don’t cheat anyone.
6 . NOT SUITABLE not suitable for a particular purpose, situation, or person OPP right :
It’s the wrong time of year to be planning a holiday.
wrong for
Anna and I were wrong for each other in dozens of ways (=not suited for a romantic relationship with each other) .
7 . NOT WORKING if something is wrong with a vehicle or machine, it stops working properly
wrong with
There’s something wrong with the car again.
⇨ go wrong at ↑ wrong 2 (2)
8 . be the wrong way round/around
a) to be in the wrong order:
These two paragraphs are the wrong way round.
b) if something is the wrong way round, the back is where the front should be:
You’ve got your T-shirt on the wrong way around.
9 . the wrong way up if something is the wrong way up, the top is where the bottom should be SYN upside down :
The painting was hung the wrong way up.
10 . take something the wrong way to be offended by a remark because you have understood it wrongly:
I like you. Don’t take this the wrong way, now. I mean as a friend.
11 . be in the wrong place at the wrong time spoken to get involved in trouble without intending to
12 . get on the wrong side of somebody to do something that gives someone a bad opinion of you, so that they do not like or respect you in the future:
I wouldn’t like to get on the wrong side of her.
13 . get on the wrong side of the law to get into trouble with the police
14 . get off on the wrong foot to start a job, relationship etc badly by making a mistake that annoys people
15 . get the wrong end of the stick British English informal to understand a situation in completely the wrong way:
Geoff had got the wrong end of the stick, and thought I was angry with him.
16 . be on the wrong track/tack to have the wrong idea about a situation so that you are unlikely to get the result you want
17 . be from the wrong side of the tracks American English to be from a poor part of a town or a poor part of society
18 . be the wrong side of thirty/forty etc informal to be older than 30 etc ⇨ get out of bed on the wrong side at ↑ bed 1 (8)
19 . correct me if I’m wrong used as a polite way of saying that you think what you are going to say is correct:
Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you say you were going to do it?
20 . you’re not wrong spoken used to agree with someone:
‘This government is ruining the country!’ ‘You’re not wrong there!’
21 . fall/get into the wrong hands if something secret or dangerous falls into the wrong hands, it is discovered by someone who may use it to harm people
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 1,2)
■ adverbs
▪ completely/totally/quite wrong
I may be completely wrong.
▪ hopelessly wrong
In most cases judges are right, but in a few they are hopelessly wrong.
■ verbs
▪ get something wrong
They’ve got their sums wrong.
▪ be proved wrong (=be shown to be wrong)
People do not like to be proved wrong.
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 3)
■ phrases
▪ there is something/nothing wrong
There’s something wrong with this yogurt.
▪ something/nothing is wrong
It was four whole days before anyone even noticed something was wrong.
▪ what’s wrong
What’s wrong with your leg?
■ adverbs
▪ very wrong
Something is very wrong.
▪ terribly/dreadfully/horribly wrong
Harry felt sure that something was terribly wrong.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ wrong not correct or right – used about facts, answers etc, or people:
For every wrong answer, you lose five points.
|
The figure he gave me was wrong.
|
I think you’re wrong about that.
▪ incorrect something that is incorrect is wrong because someone has made a mistake. Incorrect is more formal than wrong :
I’m afraid these prices are incorrect.
|
The doctor had made an incorrect diagnosis.
▪ inaccurate something that is inaccurate is not exactly right and contains mistakes:
inaccurate information
|
inaccurate measurements
|
The old maps were often inaccurate.
▪ false not based on true facts:
Are the following statements true or false?
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He was accused of giving false information to the police.
▪ untrue [not usually before noun] not based on true facts, especially because someone is lying or guessing:
I can’t believe he said that about me. It’s completely untrue!
|
The allegations were untrue.
▪ misleading a misleading statement or piece of information makes people believe something that is wrong, especially because it does not give all the facts:
The article was very misleading.
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misleading statistics
▪ misguided a misguided decision, belief, action etc is wrong because it is based on bad judgement or understanding:
That decision seems misguided now.
|
It was the consequence of a misguided economic policy.
▪ mistaken wrong – used about ideas and beliefs. Also used about a person being wrong. You’re mistaken sounds more polite and less direct than saying you’re wrong :
She’s completely mistaken if she thinks that I don’t care about her.
|
a mistaken belief
II. wrong 2 S2 BrE AmE adverb
[ Word Family: adverb : ↑ wrong , ↑ wrongly , ↑ wrongfully ; adjective : ↑ wrong , ↑ wrongful ; verb : ↑ wrong ; noun : ↑ wrong ]
1 . not in the correct way OPP right :
You’ve spelt my name wrong.
What? Have I done it wrong?
I asked him to sort those files, but he’s done it all wrong (=in completely the wrong way) .
2 . go wrong
a) to stop working properly:
Something’s gone wrong with my watch.
b) to make a mistake during a process so that you do not get the right result:
Follow these instructions and you can’t go wrong (=you are sure to succeed) .
c) to do something that makes a plan, relationship etc fail:
Thinking back on the marriage, I just don’t know where we went wrong.
3 . get something wrong to make a mistake in the way you write, judge, or understand something:
This isn’t it. We must have got the address wrong.
get/have it all wrong (=understand a situation in completely the wrong way)
No, no – you’ve got it all wrong! We’re just friends!
4 . don’t get me wrong spoken used when you think someone may understand your remarks wrongly, or be offended by them:
Don’t get me wrong – I like Jenny.
5 . you can’t go wrong (with something) spoken used to say that a particular object will always be suitable, satisfactory, or work well:
You can’t go wrong with a little black dress, can you?
⇨ come out wrong at ↑ come out
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 2)
■ adverbs
▪ go badly/seriously wrong
The book is a thriller about a diamond robbery that goes badly wrong.
▪ go horribly/terribly wrong
From that moment on, everything went horribly wrong for the team.
▪ go disastrously wrong
Help was close at hand in case the stunt went disastrously wrong.
▪ go tragically wrong (=so that death or serious injury results)
A father and son died in a fire after a good deed for a friend went tragically wrong.
■ phrases
▪ things go wrong
If things go wrong, they’ll blame me.
▪ something/nothing/everything goes wrong
If something goes wrong with your machine, you can take it back to the dealer.
▪ you can’t go wrong (=you cannot make a mistake)
Turn right and then right again--you really can’t go wrong.
▪ if anything can go wrong, it will
I’m sure that if anything can go wrong, it will.
III. wrong 3 BrE AmE noun
[ Word Family: adverb : ↑ wrong , ↑ wrongly , ↑ wrongfully ; adjective : ↑ wrong , ↑ wrongful ; verb : ↑ wrong ; noun : ↑ wrong ]
1 . [uncountable] behaviour that is not morally right:
He’s too young to know right from wrong.
Those who do wrong should be punished.
somebody can do no wrong (=they are perfect)
Nathan adored her, and she could do no wrong in his eyes.
2 . [countable] an action, judgment, or situation that is unfair:
The black population suffered countless wrongs at the hands of a racist regime.
right a wrong (=bring justice to an unfair situation)
3 . be in the wrong to make a mistake or deserve the blame for something:
Which driver was in the wrong?
4 . do somebody wrong to treat someone badly and unfairly – used humorously
5 . two wrongs don’t make a right spoken used to say that if someone does something bad to you, you should not do something bad to them
IV. wrong 4 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Word Family: adverb : ↑ wrong , ↑ wrongly , ↑ wrongfully ; adjective : ↑ wrong , ↑ wrongful ; verb : ↑ wrong ; noun : ↑ wrong ]
formal to treat or judge someone unfairly:
Both sides felt that they had been wronged.