Wrong

Wrong (?; 115), a. [OE. wrong, wrang, a. & n., AS. wrang, n.; originally, awry, wrung, fr. wringan to wring; akin to D. wrang bitter, Dan. vrang wrong, Sw. vrång, Icel. rangr awry, wrong. See Wring.]

1. Twisted; wry; as, a wrong nose. [Obs.] Wyclif (Lev. xxi. 19).

2. Not according to the laws of good morals, whether divine or human; not suitable to the highest and best end; not morally right; deviating from rectitude or duty; not just or equitable; not true; not legal; as, a wrong practice; wrong ideas; wrong inclinations and desires.

3. Not fit or suitable to an end or object; not appropriate for an intended use; not according to rule; unsuitable; improper; incorrect; as, to hold a book with the wrong end uppermost; to take the wrong way.

I have deceived you both; I have directed you to wrong places.

4. Not according to truth; not conforming to fact or intent; not right; mistaken; erroneous; as, a wrong statement.

5. Designed to be worn or placed inward; as, the wrong side of a garment or of a piece of cloth.

Syn. -- Injurious; unjust; faulty; detrimental; incorrect; erroneous; unfit; unsuitable.

Wrong, n. [AS. wrang. See Wrong, a.] That which is not right. Specifically: (a) Nonconformity or disobedience to lawful authority, divine or human; deviation from duty; -- the opposite of moral right.

When I had wrong and she the right.

One spake much of right and wrong.

(b) Deviation or departure from truth or fact; state of falsity; error; as, to be in the wrong. (c) Whatever deviates from moral rectitude; usually, an act that involves evil consequences, as one which inflicts injury on a person; any injury done to, or received from; another; a trespass; a violation of right.

Friend, I do thee no wrong.

As the king of England can do no wrong, so neither can he do right but in his courts and by his courts.

The obligation to redress a wrong is at least as binding as that of paying a debt.

☞ Wrongs, legally, are private or public. Private wrongs are civil injuries, immediately affecting individuals; public wrongs are crimes and misdemeanors which affect the community. Blackstone.

Wrong (?; 115), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wronged (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Wronging.]

1. To treat with injustice; to deprive of some right, or to withhold some act of justice from; to do undeserved harm to; to deal unjustly with; to injure.

He that sinneth . . . wrongeth his own soul.

2. To impute evil to unjustly; as, if you suppose me capable of a base act, you wrong me.

I rather choose
To wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you,
Than I will wrong such honorable men.

Wrong (?), obs. imp. of Wring. Wrung. Chaucer.

Wrong, adv. In a wrong manner; not rightly; amiss; morally ill; erroneously; wrongly.

Ten censure wrong for one that writes amiss.