wrong

English Online Dictionary. What means wrong‎? What does wrong mean?

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^(key): /ˈɹɒŋ/
• (General American) enPR: rông, IPA^(key): /ˈɹɔŋ/
  • (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɑŋ/
• Rhymes: -ɒŋ

Adjective

wrong (comparative more wrong, superlative most wrong)

1. Incorrect or untrue.
2. Asserting something incorrect or untrue.

3. Immoral, not good, bad.
4. Improper; unfit; unsuitable.

5. Not working; out of order.

6. Designed to be worn or placed inward

7. Twisted; wry.

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

Collocations

Translations

Adverb

wrong (comparative more wrong, superlative most wrong)

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

Translations

Noun

wrong (plural wrongs)

1. Something that is immoral or not good.

   Synonyms: depravity, iniquity, sin

2. An instance of wronging someone (sometimes with possessive to indicate the wrongdoer).

   Synonyms: hardship, sorrow; see also Thesaurus:woe
3. The incorrect or unjust position or opinion.

   Synonyms: error, wrength, wrongness, wrongfulness
4. The opposite of right; the concept of badness.

   Synonyms: impropriety, roguery; see also Thesaurus:badness

Derived terms

• in the wrong

Translations

Verb

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

1. To treat unjustly; to injure or harm; to do wrong by.
2. To deprive of some right, or to withhold some act of justice.
3. To slander; to impute evil to unjustly.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• wronged
• wrung

Anagrams

• grown

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vrɔŋ/
• Rhymes: -ɔŋ

Noun

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

Verb

wrong

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

Noun

wrong (plural wronges)

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

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