go wrong

present singular third person goes wrong · participle present going wrong · past went wrong · participle past gone wrong

1. idiomaticintransitiveTo worsen; to fail or go amiss; to have a bad outcome.

   Everything seems to be going very badly wrong today.

   3 more examples

   If you want good weather, you can't go wrong with Spain.

   I just don't know what went wrong!

   2012, Amy Keating Rogers, The Last Roundup, spoken by Derpy Hooves

   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

   Synonyms: atrophy, break down, crack, decline, deteriorate, degenerate, devolve, confound

2. idiomaticintransitiveTo malfunction.

   The vending machine went wrong and dispensed five cans of drink at once.

3. idiomaticintransitiveTo 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

   Synonyms: break bad, go bad, go to the bad, stray