to go wrong
656
2.4
- phrasal verb
- /ɡoʊ rɔŋ/
- If anything goes wrong, I'm holding you responsible.
- things go wrong
- if it goes wrong
- asked what went wrong
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Watch on YouTubeJust what the heck is going wrong with the NHS?
- Just what the heck is going wrong with the NHS?
- So, so far, everything that could go wrong is going wrong.
- You don't give up hope, Things go wrong, you keep going.
- So the, the thing that goes wrong is asymmetric actors.
- But it's going to go wrong very, very quickly.
- And it's, you can't go wrong being decent to other people.
- Where do you see most people going wrong on a spiritual journey?
- It's to focus less on what's going wrong and more on what's going right.
- They'll drag you down and when it goes wrong, tell you they told you so.
- So today we're going to explain what is going wrong with economics.
- What, what are the ways that things could go wrong between now and CJI?
- What are the different ways you think AGI might go wrong that concern you?
- And I think that's where we go wrong in our community.
- I thought things were going wrong and we needed to do better.
Examples
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Where do you see most people going wrong on a spiritual journey?
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And, like, if something goes wrong, then what do you do?
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So, so far, everything that could go wrong is going wrong.
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But it's going to go wrong very, very quickly.
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I think where people go wrong is trying to look young.
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So many things to go wrong and what can go right.
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This is exactly where it all went wrong.
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I think something's gone wrong around here.
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Everything seemed to be going wrong, starting with Peter leaving for Saigon on Monday.
Fiction book (1990) -
If anything goes wrong, I'm holding you responsible.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Not succeed in doing something you wanted to do
35
5.3
To happen in a way that is not planned or expected
23
3.9
Choosing the wrong direction or decision causes trouble
3
7.9
To fail or go badly wrong, especially a plan
2
7.9
To fail completely
1
7.2
To fail to get the result you planned in an attempt or plan
Head toward failure with no chance of a good outcome
Antonyms
How Successful
827
2.0
∞
1.2
∞
2.6
656
2.4
∞
1.0
645
3.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to not succeed or to develop in an undesirable way' is directly derivable from combining 'go' (indicating a change of state) with 'wrong' (incorrect, out of order). This change-of-state pattern (e.g. 'go bad', 'go wrong') is common in English and across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can reasonably infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Go wrong gives a simple picture: imagine a plan or machine moving forward (go) but then taking a bad turn or breaking (wrong). So, when something goes wrong it means 'to fail' or 'to happen in a bad way'.