Dictionary

go wrong en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To worsen; to fail or go amiss; to have a bad outcome.
   • I just don't know what went wrong! 2012, Amy Keating Rogers, The Last Roundup, spoken by Derpy Hooves:
   • Everything seems to be going very badly wrong today.
   • If you want good weather, you can't go wrong with Spain.
   • Johnson explained that absolute gauging assumed that everything that could go wrong would go wrong at the same time, resulting in the train hitting the platform. In contrast, probabilistic gauging says that everything can go wrong, but not at the same time. 2023 April 19, Philip Haigh, “Gauging ways to ensure rail freight gains more paths”, in RAIL, number 981, page 45:
2. (idiomatic, intransitive) To malfunction.
   • The vending machine went wrong and dispensed five cans of drink at once.
3. (idiomatic, intransitive) To become wicked or depraved.
   • Mr. Blue Sky / Please tell us why / You had to hide away for so long (so long) / Where did we go wrong? 1977, Electric Light Orchestra, “Mr. Blue Sky”, in Out of the Blue:

Forms

Synonyms

wane · break bad · decline · go to hell · go to the dogs · go off · tabefy · go pear-shaped · go to the bad · retrograde · go to seed · degenerate · lapse · wither away · go to pot · wanse · go bad · go wrong · break down · crack · go downhill · wither · stray · pejorate · atrophy · confound · go sideways · fall off · deteriorate · go bad · shrivel · go south · fade · molder · devolve · worsen · go left · sweal · spend · suffer

Translations (26)

fi mennä epäkuntoon (to malfunction) · hu félresikerül (to fail) · fi epäonnistua (to fail) · he התפקשש (to fail) · zdj undjia shonga (to become depraved) · fr mal tourner (to fail) · fi mennä rikki (to malfunction) · de schiefgehen (to fail) · is fara úrskeiðis (to fail) · hu elromlik (to malfunction) · he השתבש (to fail) · scn finiri a frocia (to fail) · fi turmeltua (to become depraved) · is víkja af réttri leið (to become depraved) · es ir mal (to fail) · fi hajota (to malfunction) · fi mennä pieleen (to fail) · scn finiri a jocu di focu (to fail) · cy mynd o'i le (to fail) · fr mal tourner (to become depraved) · it finire male (to fail) · mi takahē (to fail) · pt dar errado (to fail) · de schieflaufen (to fail) · fi mennä mönkään (to fail) · fi mennä rappiolle (to become depraved)