go wrong

1. Go astray, make a mistake. For example, We made a left turn and somehow went wrong from then on , or You won't go wrong if you follow the directions in the dress pattern . [c. 1300]

2. Take to evil ways, become a criminal, as in As soon as he turned thirteen, Billy fell in with a gang and began to go wrong . [c. 1500]

3. Fail, turn out badly, as in Everything about this party has gone wrong . [Late 1500s]

4. Fail to work properly, as in The car starts fine, but as soon as you put it in gear, the transmission goes wrong . [Late 1800s]

Example Sentences

I really hope it does not go wrong because anything can happen in T20 games.

From BBC

But in every corner of Los Angeles, residents now have a chance to weigh in on what they like or don’t like about parks, what went wrong and what to do about it.

From Los Angeles Times

He said the jail sentence given to Lucy Connolly - who was imprisoned after pleading guilty to stirring up racial hatred against asylum seekers - was "living proof of what can go wrong" with free speech restrictions.

From BBC

It was only in 2008 that Wallace noticed something going wrong with his investments.

From BBC

"Things do go wrong, and we try to do the best we can to mitigate that."

From BBC

Related Words

• err 
• misconstrue 
• misinterpret 
• misjudge 
• misread 
• misunderstand 
• overestimate 
• overrate 
• overvalue 
• underestimate 
• undervalue