# 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-, *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: /ˈɹɒŋ/
* (General American) enPR: rông, IPA: /ˈɹɔŋ/
** (cot–caught merger) IPA: /ˈɹɑŋ/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Audio (Canada):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɒŋ

### Adjective

wrong (comparative more wrong, superlative most wrong)
* Incorrect or untrue.
    Some of your answers were correct, and some were wrong.
** c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:Among this princely heap, if any here / By false intelligence or wrong surmise / Hold me a foe […]
** 2015 December 26, Victor Robert Farrell, Night-Whispers Vol 01-Q1-'Stirring Passions'‎, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 143: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. […]
** 2024 January 10, Christian Wolmar, “A time for change? ... just as it was back in issue 262”, in RAIL, number 1000, page 61: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.
* Asserting something incorrect or untrue.
    You're wrong: he's not Superman at all.
* Immoral, not good, bad.
    It is wrong to lie.
** 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Council Chambers, Citadel:Shepard: Some part of you must still realize this is wrong. You can fight this!
* 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
    the wrong side of a garment or of a piece of cloth
* 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.

#### 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.

#### Synonyms

* injurious
* unjust
* faulty
* detrimental
* unfit
* unsuitable
* Thesaurus:false

#### Antonyms

* right

#### Derived terms

* 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 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
* laugh on the wrong side of one's face
* laugh on the wrong side of one's mouth
* make a wrong turn at Albuquerque
* make the wrong turn at Albuquerque
* meteorwrong
* not even wrong
* on the wrong foot
* on the wrong side of history
* on the wrong side of the blanket
* on the wrong track
* pick the wrong horse
* rub up the wrong way
* take a wrong turn at Albuquerque
* take the wrong turn at Albuquerque
* the wrong side of
* through the wrong end of the telescope
* wake up on the wrong side of bed
* wrength
* wrong crowd
* wrongdoer
* wrong-doing
* wrongdoing
* wrong end of the stick
* wronger than wrong
* wrong foot
* wrong-footed
* wrongful
* wrong-headedly
* wrong-headedness
* wrongly
* wrong-minded
* wrong-mindedly
* wrong-mindedness
* wrongness
* wrong on so many levels
* wrong rook pawn
* wrong side
* wrong side of town
* wrong-take
* wrong take
* wrong-way driver

#### Collocations

* wrong way
* wrong side
* wrong thing
* wrong place
* wrong direction
* wrong time
* wrong person
* wrong answer
* wrong idea
* wrong kind
* very wrong
* terribly wrong
* horribly wrong
* completely wrong
* entirely wrong
* seriously wrong
* morally wrong
* quite wrong
* clearly wrong

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### 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.
    You're doing it all wrong!
** 1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 131:`Then, just as I was, I walked out of the house and went to the recruiting-office, stating my age wrong.'

#### Translations
### Noun

wrong (plural wrongs)
* Something that is immoral or not good.
    Synonyms: depravity, iniquity, sin
    Injustice is a heinous wrong.
* An instance of wronging someone (sometimes with possessive to indicate the wrongdoer).
    Synonyms: hardship, sorrow; see also Thesaurus:woe
** 1597, John Dowland, The First Booke of Songes or Ayres, Part V:Can she excuse my wrongs with Virtue's cloak? Shall I call her good when she proves unkind?
* The incorrect or unjust position or opinion.
    Synonyms: error, wrength, wrongness, wrongfulness
** c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [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.
    Synonyms: impropriety, roguery; see also Thesaurus:badness
** c. 1605–1608, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], line 28:Thus much of this will make Black white, foul fair, wrong right, Base noble, old young, coward valiant.

#### Derived terms

* in the wrong

#### Translations

Bulgarian: зло (bg) n (zlo), неправда (bg) f (nepravda)
Dutch: misstand (nl) m, wantoestand (nl) m, onrechtmatige daad (nl) f
Egyptian: (jwjt)
Finnish: vääryys (fi)
French: crime (fr) m
Friulian: tuart
Galician: felonía f, crime (gl) m
German: Vergehen (de) n, Verfehlung (de) f, Unrecht (de) n
Greek: κακό (el) n (kakó)
Hindi: अनुचित (hi) (anucit), अनैतिक (hi) (anaitik)
Hungarian: igazságtalanság (hu), becstelenség (hu)
Italian: torto (it) m
Old English: unriht (ang) n
Ottoman Turkish: ظلم (zulm, zulüm)
Portuguese: mal (pt) m
Russian: зло (ru) n (zlo), грех (ru) m (grex) (sin), преступле́ние (ru) n (prestuplénije) (crime), оши́бка (ru) f (ošíbka) (mistake)
Scottish Gaelic: eucoir f, coire f
Spanish: mal (es) m, crimen (es)
Swedish: fel (sv) n :
    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. 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; to do wrong by.
    The dealer wronged us by selling us this lemon of a car.
** 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [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.
** c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [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.
** 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [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.

#### 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
* 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
* wrongdoing
* wronger
* wrong-foot
* wrongful
* wrongfully
* wronghead
* wrong-headed
* wrongless
* wrongly
* wrongness
* wrong number
* wrongous
* wrong side of bed
* wrong side of the tracks
* wrong side out
* wrong-timed
* wrong 'un
* wrong way
* wrong-way concurrency

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### See also

* wronged
* wrung

### Anagrams

* grown

## Dutch
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /vrɔŋ/
* Audio (Netherlands):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɔŋ

### Noun

wrong m (plural wrongen, diminutive wrongetje n)
* (heraldry) wreath, a ring made of two strips of cloth intertwined used on top of helmets to soften any blow

### Verb

wrong
* singular past indicative of wringen

## Middle English
### Alternative forms

* wrang, wronge, wronk, wornge, rong

### Etymology

Semantic loan from Old Norse rangr, while the form is from Old English wrang (“rough, uneven”); ultimately from Proto-Germanic *wrangaz.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /wrɔnɡ/, [wrɔŋɡ]
* (later ME) IPA: /rɔnɡ/, [rɔŋɡ]

### Noun

wrong (plural wronges)
* A wrong, injustice
* A (moral) wrong, evil, wrongdoing, sin
* injury, harm
* mistake, misstep

#### Descendants

* English: wrong
* Geordie English: wrang
* Scots: wrang

#### 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

#### Descendants

* English: wrong
* Northumbrian: wrang
* Scots: wrang

#### References

* “wrong, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-18.