# wrong

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈɹɒŋ/ · frequency rank #409

## Definitions
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.

## 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.

## Easily confused with
- **wrote** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wrong-vs-wrote)
- **wrongs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wrong-vs-wrongs)
- **wrongly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wrong-vs-wrongly)
- **wronged** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wrong-vs-wronged)
- **won** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/won-vs-wrong)
- **wing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wing-vs-wrong)
- **wont** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wont-vs-wrong)
- **wang** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wang-vs-wrong)
- **wong** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wong-vs-wrong)
- **wren** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wren-vs-wrong)
- **wring** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wring-vs-wrong)
- **wiring** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wiring-vs-wrong)
- **wooing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wooing-vs-wrong)
- **waring** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/waring-vs-wrong)

## Common misspellings (8)
`rwong`, `worng`, `wrnog`, `wrogn`, `wrongg`, `wronng`, `wrrong`, `wwrong`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/wrong