GO WRONG | Meaning, Definition In Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of go wrong in English

go wrong

phrase Add to word list Add to word list B2 If a situation or event goes wrong, it becomes unpleasant and is not a success: Our marriage began to go wrong after we had our first child. The Democrats are still trying to figure out where they went wrong. What went wrong? The real test of a relationship is when things go wrong. The whole process is performed at speed so naturally enough, things sometimes go wrong. We'll need to analyse the results to see what exactly went wrong with the experiment. to make a mistake: These shelves are very easy to put together - you can't go wrong. I thought I'd done this correctly - I just can't understand where I went wrong. I'm trying to work out where I went wrong. This is where you went wrong. It looks like we went wrong at step four. When I look back at our relationship, I can't help but wonder where we went wrong. B1 UK If a machine goes wrong, it stops working correctly: Our TV keeps going wrong. The computer's gone wrong. We'll have to have it repaired. We have to engineer these machines so carefully so they don't go wrong on the factory floor. See also wrong adverb
  • Everything went wrong when we tried to expand the business.
  • We were having a pleasant meal, but when she mentioned politics, everything went wrong.
  • I don't know what went wrong with their relationship.
(Definition of go wrong from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

go wrong | American Dictionary

go wrong

idiom Add to word list Add to word list to make a mistake or a bad decision: If you just follow the signs to the park, you can’t go wrong. goes wrong If a situation goes wrong, there are problems or there is a bad result: I was so worried that something had gone wrong that I called the police. (Definition of go wrong from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Translations of go wrong

in Spanish salir mal, romperse, estropearse… See more in Portuguese correr mal, avariar, errar… See more in French in Turkish in Dutch in Czech in Danish in Indonesian in Thai in Vietnamese in Polish in Swedish in Malay in German in Norwegian in Ukrainian mal tourner, se détraquer, se tromper… See more ters gitmek, bozulmak, yanlışlık yapmak… See more verkeerd gaan, een fout maken… See more obrátit se k horšímu, porouchat se, udělat chybu… See more gå galt, gå i stykker, fejle… See more menyimpang, berjalan tidak semestinya, membuat kesalahan… See more ทำงานผิดพลาด, ผิดปกติ, ทำผิด… See more gặp rắc rối, không làm việc chính xác, nhầm lẫn… See more iść źle, iść nie tak jak trzeba, popsuć się… See more gå snett, slå fel, bli fel på… See more tidak menjadi, rosak, membuat kesilapan… See more schiefgehen, nicht richtig funktionieren, etwas falsch machen… See more gå galt, komme på avveier, bli avsporet… See more зриватися, вийти з ладу, помилитися… See more Need a translator?

Get a quick, free translation!

Translator tool

Browse

go with something phrasal verb go with the flow idiom go with the territory idiom go without (something) phrasal verb go wrong phrase go yard idiom go your (own) separate ways idiom go your own (sweet) way idiom go your own/separate way idiom {{#randomImageQuizHook.filename}} {{#randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes Try a quiz now {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{^randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.filename}}

More meanings of go wrong

  • go wrong
  • go down the wrong way idiom
See all meanings
  • go down the wrong way idiom

Word of the Day

samey

UK /ˈseɪ.mi/ US /ˈseɪ.mi/

not interesting because of being very similar

About this

Blog

Talking about death (Part 2)

January 14, 2026 Read More

New Words

bio-baiting January 12, 2026 More new words has been added to list To top AI icon AI Assistant Contents EnglishAmericanTranslations AI icon AI Assistant {{#displayLoginPopup}} Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Learn more with +Plus

Sign up for free and get access to exclusive content: Free word lists and quizzes from Cambridge Tools to create your own word lists and quizzes Word lists shared by our community of dictionary fans Sign up now or Log in Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Learn more with +Plus

Create word lists and quizzes for free Sign up now or Log in {{/displayLoginPopup}} {{#displayClassicSurvey}} {{/displayClassicSurvey}}
  • Cambridge Dictionary +Plus
  • My profile
  • +Plus help
  • Log out
AI Assistant Dictionary Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English Translations Click on the arrows to change the translation direction. Bilingual Dictionaries English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English English–Danish Danish–English English–Dutch Dutch–English English–French French–English English–German German–English English–Indonesian Indonesian–English English–Italian Italian–English English–Japanese Japanese–English English–Norwegian Norwegian–English English–Polish Polish–English English–Portuguese Portuguese–English English–Spanish Spanish–English English–Swedish Swedish–English Semi-bilingual Dictionaries English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese Translate Grammar Thesaurus Pronunciation Cambridge Dictionary +Plus Games {{userName}}
  • Cambridge Dictionary +Plus
  • My profile
  • +Plus help
  • Log out
Log in / Sign up English (UK) Change English (UK) English (US) Español Português 中文 (简体) 正體中文 (繁體) Dansk Deutsch Français Italiano Nederlands Norsk Polski Русский Türkçe Tiếng Việt Svenska Українська 日本語 한국어 ગુજરાતી தமிழ் తెలుగు বাঙ্গালি मराठी हिंदी Follow us Choose a dictionary
  • Recent and Recommended {{#preferredDictionaries}} {{name}} {{/preferredDictionaries}}
  • Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English
  • Grammar and thesaurus Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English Grammar Thesaurus
  • Pronunciation British and American pronunciations with audio English Pronunciation
  • Translation Click on the arrows to change the translation direction. Bilingual Dictionaries
    • English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English
    • English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English
    • English–Danish Danish–English
    • English–Dutch Dutch–English
    • English–French French–English
    • English–German German–English
    • English–Indonesian Indonesian–English
    • English–Italian Italian–English
    • English–Japanese Japanese–English
    • English–Norwegian Norwegian–English
    • English–Polish Polish–English
    • English–Portuguese Portuguese–English
    • English–Spanish Spanish–English
    • English–Swedish Swedish–English
    Semi-bilingual Dictionaries English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese
  • Dictionary +Plus Word Lists
Choose your language English (UK) English (US) Español Português 中文 (简体) 正體中文 (繁體) Dansk Deutsch Français Italiano Nederlands Norsk Polski Русский Türkçe Tiếng Việt Svenska Українська 日本語 한국어 ગુજરાતી தமிழ் తెలుగు বাঙ্গালি मराठी हिंदी Contents
  • English   Phrase
  • American   
    • Idiom 
      • go wrong
      • goes wrong
  • Translations
  • Grammar
  • All translations
My word lists

To add go wrong to a word list please sign up or log in.

Sign up or Log in My word lists

Add go wrong to one of your lists below, or create a new one.

{{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

Something went wrong.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} {{name}} More Go to your word lists {{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

Something went wrong.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} Tell us about this example sentence: The word in the example sentence does not match the entry word. The sentence contains offensive content. Cancel Submit Thanks! Your feedback will be reviewed. {{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

There was a problem sending your report.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} The word in the example sentence does not match the entry word. The sentence contains offensive content. Cancel Submit Thanks! Your feedback will be reviewed. {{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

There was a problem sending your report.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}}

Tag » Why Is Everything Going Wrong