Meaning & use
incorrect
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Not true or accurate, because it contains a mistake.
Grammar: Goes before a noun or after be: an incorrect answer, that statement is incorrect.
Patterns
- be incorrect about something
- an incorrect answer
Your answer to question four is incorrect.
The report contained incorrect figures.
She was incorrect about the date of the meeting.
adjectivecomparableformal
Not following the proper rules, method or standard.
Grammar: Often describes usage or procedure: incorrect spelling, incorrect use.
Patterns
- incorrect use of something
Incorrect use of the machine can cause injury.
The incorrect spelling of her name annoyed her.
An incorrect password blocked the login.
adjectivecomparableold-fashioned
Not suited to what is socially or morally proper.
Grammar: Usually in compounds like politically incorrect.
Patterns
- politically incorrect
His jokes were politically incorrect, and many guests frowned.
The old rules held it incorrect to wear white after summer.
It would be incorrect to call that rude.
Word forms
| comparative | more incorrect |
|---|---|
| superlative | most incorrect |
Common combinations
- incorrect answer
- An incorrect answer costs you a point.
- incorrect information
- The website gave incorrect information.
- factually incorrect
- The claim was factually incorrect.
- incorrect password
- Incorrect password; please try again.
- politically incorrect
- The comedian is known for politically incorrect humor.
Synonyms and how they differ
- wrong
- Wrong is the common, informal word and can also mean morally bad, while incorrect only concerns accuracy.
- inaccurate
- Inaccurate suggests something is not exact or precise, but incorrect means it is plainly mistaken.
- mistaken
- Mistaken usually describes a person or belief that has the wrong idea.
- false
- False says something is not true, sometimes deliberately, while incorrect only says it contains an error.
Opposites
Word family
- correct adjective
- free from error
- correct verb
- to fix a mistake
- incorrectly adverb
- in a wrong way
- incorrectness noun
- the quality of being wrong
- correction noun
- a change that fixes an error
Commonly confused: incorrect or incorrigible?
incorrect vs incorrigible
Incorrigible describes someone who cannot be reformed, and is unrelated to being wrong.
Practice
The teacher circled the ___ answer and wrote the right one beside it.
Choose one answer.
Incorrect means containing a mistake, which suits a circled wrong answer. Incomplete would mean unfinished, not wrong.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “incorrect”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.