wrong

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-, *werǵ-, *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.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɹɒŋ/
• (General American) enPR: rŏng, IPA^(key): /ɹɔŋ/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (CA)

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• Audio

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• Rhymes: -ɒŋ

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

1. Incorrect or untrue.

   Some of your answers were correct, and some were wrong.

   • 1592, William Shakespeare, Richard III, Act II, Scene I:

     Among this princely heap, if any here / By false intelligence or wrong surmise / Hold me a foe […]

2. Asserting something incorrect or untrue.

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

3. Immoral, not good, bad.

   It is wrong to lie.

4. Improper; unfit; unsuitable.

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

5. Not working; out of order.

   Something is wrong with my cellphone.

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

6. Designed to be worn or placed inward; as, the wrong side of a garment or of a piece of cloth.
7. (obsolete) Twisted; wry.

   a wrong nose

• 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.

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

• right

• 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.

wrong (comparative more wrong, superlative most wrong)

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

   I spelled several names wrong in my address book.

wrong (plural wrongs)

1. Something that is immoral or not good.

   Injustice is a heinous wrong.

2. An instance of wronging someone (sometimes with possessive to indicate the wrongdoer).
   • (Can we date this quote?) John Dowland:

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

3. The incorrect or unjust position or opinion.
   • 1592, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part III, Act IV, Scene I, line 101. — I blame not her: she could say little less; She had the wrong.
4. The opposite of right; the concept of badness.
   • 1607, William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, Act IV, Scene III, line 28. — Thus much of this will make Black white, foul fair, wrong right, Base noble, old young, coward valiant.

• wrength

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

1. To treat unjustly; to injure or harm.
   • The dealer wronged us by selling us this lemon of a car.
   • 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part I, Act II, Scene IV, line 109. — Thou dost then wrong me, as that slaughterer doth Which giveth many wounds when one will kill.
2. To deprive of some right, or to withhold some act of justice.
   • 1597, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part II, 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.
3. To slander; to impute evil to unjustly.
   • 1598, William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, 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.

• wronged
• wrung

• grown

• IPA^(key): /vrɔŋ/

• Audio (NL)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔŋ

wrong m (plural wrongen, diminutive wrongetje n)

1. (heraldry) wreath, a ring made of two strips of cloth intertwined used on top of helmets to soften any blow

wrong

1. singular past indicative of wringen

• wrang, wronge, wronk, wornge, rong

From Old English wrang; ultimately from Proto-Germanic *wrangaz.

• IPA^(key): /wrɔnɡ/, [wrɔŋɡ]
• (later ME) IPA^(key): /rɔnɡ/, [rɔŋɡ]

wrong (plural wronges)

1. A wrong, injustice
2. A (moral) wrong, evil, wrongdoing, sin
3. injury, harm
4. mistake, misstep

• English: wrong

• “wrong (n.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-18.

wrong

1. wicked, evil, (morally) wrong
2. unjust, unfair, illegitimate
3. unlawful, illegal
4. inappropriate
5. inaccurate, mistaken
6. curved, crooked, bent

• wrongful
• wrongfully, wrongfullich

• English: wrong
• Scots: wrang

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