Wrongness
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The quality of being wrong; error or fault. uncountable, usually
"Often, on the plantation, he had seen the white men take drinks. But there was something somehow different in the manner of Borckman’s taking a drink. Jerry was aware, vaguely, that there was something surreptitious about it. What was wrong he did not know, yet he sensed the wrongness and watched suspiciously."
- 2 the quality of not conforming to fact or truth wordnet
- 3 Wrong or reprehensible things or actions. uncountable, usually
"But your father didnt exactly do wrong things: he said them and thought them: that was what was so dreadful. He really had a sort of religion of wrongness. Just as one doesnt mind men practising immorality so long as they own that they are in the wrong by preaching morality; so I couldnt forgive Andrew for preaching immorality while he practised morality."
- 4 contrary to conscience or morality wordnet
- 5 inappropriate conduct wordnet
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"Often, on the plantation, he had seen the white men take drinks. But there was something somehow different in the manner of Borckman’s taking a drink. Jerry was aware, vaguely, that there was something surreptitious about it. What was wrong he did not know, yet he sensed the wrongness and watched suspiciously."
Etymology
From Middle English wrongnesse, equivalent to wrong + -ness.
More for "wrongness"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.