wrong crowd
9
5.1
- noun
- Informal
:
mala compañía
- She regrets falling in with the wrong crowd that led her to make poor choices.
It's like manage your money, but don't get mixed in the wrong crowd, I say, and just just don't follow fashion.
- It's like manage your money, but don't get mixed in the wrong crowd, I say, and just just don't follow fashion.
- And when you fight back, I think you're inevitably going to fall into the wrong crowd.
Examples
-
I just got in with the wrong crowd," he says.
Academic text (2011) -
At 20, Mona was slumping through college with a C average and a tendency to hang out with what my father called "the wrong crowd."
Fiction book (1995) -
We were worried that he might get involved in the wrong crowd.
-
As far as I can tell from his Facebook page, this guy was running with the wrong crowd.
Blog text (25) -
"I was in trouble as a kid, hanging about downtown with the wrong crowd.
Fiction book (2001) -
It sounds as though Laura fell in with the wrong crowd at a time when she was particularly vulnerable.
-
He was a great guy who just got caught up in the wrong crowd in the late '60s.
Blog text (28) -
Though the girl hadn't gotten into any serious trouble, mother Debbie Dawsey was becoming worried because her daughter's grades had begun to slide; she was skipping classes, sneaking out at night, and hanging out with the wrong crowd.
Academic text (2001) -
His parents warned him about the dangers of getting involved with the wrong crowd in high school.
-
After moving to a new city, he was careful not to associate with the wrong crowd that could ruin his reputation.
Synonyms
3
3.7
People who can make you behave badly or get into trouble
How Harmful
- NSFW
72
3.4
832
2.8
- Informal
9
5.1
3
3.7
9
3.2
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a group of people with a negative or harmful influence' is directly derivable from combining 'wrong' (bad/incorrect, morally or legally unacceptable) with 'crowd' (a group of people); the adjective+noun composition transparently yields 'a bad group of people'. This compositional pattern is common cross‑linguistically and a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
Wrong crowd comes from the simple picture of someone standing with a group of people, a crowd, whose actions are wrong. So being in the wrong crowd means you are with people who are a 'bad influence' and could get you into trouble.