wrong

1 adjective

1 NOT CORRECT saying, believing, or depending on something that is not correct: Your calculations must be wrong. | be wrong to think/say: I'm sorry; I was wrong to assume that you wanted to go. | prove sb wrong: I wish you'd stop trying to prove me wrong all the time.

2 NOT THE RIGHT ONE not the one that you intended or the one that you should use: The letter was delivered to the wrong address. | driving on the wrong side of the road

3 TELEPHONE wrong number used when you have telephoned the wrong person by mistake: There's no-one called Julia here - I think you must have the wrong number.

4 NOT MORAL not morally right or acceptable: it is wrong to do sth: You must have known it was wrong to take the money. | it is wrong that: It's wrong that people should have to sleep on the streets.

—opposite right 1 (6)

5 NOT SUITABLE not suitable for a particular purpose, situation, or person: It's the wrong time of year to be planning a holiday.

(+ for): This is the wrong climate for growing grapes.

6 be the wrong way round/around

a) to be in the wrong order: These two paragraphs are the wrong way round.

b) to be pointing in the wrong direction: You've got your T-shirt on the wrong way around.

7 be in the wrong place at the wrong time spoken to get involved in trouble without intending to

8 get on the wrong side of sb to do something that gives someone a bad opinion of you, so that they do not like or respect you in the future

9 get on the wrong side of the law to get into trouble with the police

10 get off on the wrong foot to start a job, relationship etc badly by making a mistake that annoys people

11 take sth the wrong way to be offended by a remark because you have understood it wrongly

12 get the wrong end of the stick informal to understand a situation in completely the wrong way

13 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

14 be from the wrong side of the tracks AmE to be from a poor part of a town or a poor part of society

15 be on the wrong side of thirty/forty etc informal to be older than thirty etc

—see also: get out of bed on the wrong side bed 1 (9)

16 what's wrong?

a) used to ask someone what problem they have, why they are unhappy etc: “What's wrong?” “Oh, I'm just a bit worried about tomorrow.”

b) used to ask why something doesn't work

(+ with): What's wrong with this clock?

c) used to say that you think something is good, fair etc, and you do not understand why other people think it is not

(+ with): What's wrong with eating meat? I think it's natural.

17 there's something wrong used to say that there is a fault or problem with something: There's something wrong. The car won't start.

(+ with): There's something wrong with the phone, the line's dead. | have sth wrong with: She had to go home early - she's got something wrong with her back.

18 there's nothing wrong

a) used to say that something has not got any faults or problems: It's O.K. don't worry, there's nothing wrong.

(+ with): There's nothing wrong with the TV, it just wasn't plugged in.

b) used to say that you do not think that something is bad or immoral

(+ with): There's nothing wrong with drinking, as long as you know when to stop.

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 used to agree with someone: “This government is ruining the country!” “You're not wrong!”

2 adverb

1 not in the correct way: You've spelt my name wrong. | do sth all wrong (=in completely the wrong way): I asked him to sort those files, but he's done it all wrong.

2 go wrong

a) to stop working properly: The television's gone wrong again.

(+ with): Something's gone wrong with my watch.

b) to make a mistake during a process so that you do not get the right result: you can't go wrong (=you are sure to succeed): Follow these instructions and you can't go wrong.

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 sth 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 sth) 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?

USAGE NOTE: WRONG COLLOCATION/GRAMMAR Many meanings of wrong only belong in particular phrases or structures that cannot be changed. For example, if someone's health is bad, you can say something is wrong with them but not: They are wrong (which means not correct). You can do something wrong (=not in the correct way) but not do a wrong thing (though you can do the wrong thing). If you do something wrong, that does not mean there is something wrong with you: He was angry with me but I hadn't done anything wrong. Note ... there was nothing wrong with me (= I was not ill). Wrong used before a noun usually means `not correct', `not correctly chosen' or `not suitable': the wrong answer/key/furniture. You would also say: I can't find what is wrong/has gone wrong (NOT I can't find the wrong thing) if you mean that something is not working. Wrong also means 'morally wrong', and is used in this way: What you did was completely wrong (NOT You did wrong things/action).). Sometimes bad is a better word to use. You would call a day when everything go es wrong a bad day (NOT a wrong day). If you get things wrong you make a lot of mistakes, and may get a bad record but not a wrong record (which means not correct). 3 noun

1 (U) behaviour that is not morally right: He's too young to know right from wrong. | sb can do no wrong (=they are perfect): That man seems to think he can do no wrong.

2 (C) an action, judgement, 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 sb wrong humorous to treat someone badly and unfairly

5 two wrongs don't make a right spoken used to say that punishing someone will not make a bad situation right or fair

4 verb (T) formal to treat or judge someone unfairly: I felt I had been grievously wronged.