- wrong
- I UK [rɒŋ] / US [rɔŋ]
adjective ***
1) [never before noun] if there is something wrong, there is a problemYou don't look well. Is anything wrong?
One look at her face told us that something was terribly wrong.
wrong with:I checked the engine, but I couldn't find anything wrong.
If there's something wrong with it, take it back to the shop.
•
Collocations:
Adverbs frequently used with wrong
▪ badly, disastrously, dreadfully, horribly, seriously, terribly2) not accurate or correctWe must have gone the wrong way.
the wrong answer
a) used for saying that someone's opinion is not correctI thought it'd only take a few minutes, but I was wrong.
b) not sensibleThink about this carefully – you don't want to make the wrong decision.
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Collocations:
Adverbs frequently used with wrong
▪ completely, entirely, hopelessly, plainly, quite, totally, wholly3) not morally rightwrong that:morally wrong:The court decided it was wrong that such actions should go unpunished.
They believe that making money out of prisons is morally wrong.
4) not suitablewrong for:It's the wrong place for such a big industrial development.
The colours just look wrong for a room this size.
•what's wrong?
— used for asking someone who looks ill or sad to tell you what problem they have; used for asking why something such as a machine is not working; used for asking someone why they do not approve of something you are doingYou look terrible – what's wrong?
What's wrong with the TV? It sounds all crackly.
What's wrong with having a little fun?
See:
II UK [rɒŋ] / US [rɔŋ] adverb *
in a way that is not correctSomeone had tied the rope on wrong.
•- go wrong
III UK [rɒŋ] / US [rɔŋ] noun
Word forms "wrong":
singular wrong plural wrongs
*
a) [uncountable] behaviour that is morally wrong or that breaks a ruledo wrong:right and wrong:Anyone who does wrong will be punished.
Small children do not know the difference between right and wrong.
b) [countable] used about a particular action or situationThere were disagreements over the rights and wrongs of sex education.
•See:two
IV UK [rɒŋ] / US [rɔŋ] verb [transitive]
Word forms "wrong":
present tense I/you/we/they wrong he/she/it wrongs present participle wronging past tense wronged past participle wronged formalto treat or judge someone in an unfair way
English dictionary. 2014.