in the wrong place at the wrong time

prepositional phrase

Describing actions or activities that the speaker considers inappropriate, misdirected, or unlikely to yield good results.

Opposite
in the right place at the right time
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Meanings

prepositional phrase
  1. literallyDescribing actions or activities that the speaker considers inappropriate, misdirected, or unlikely to yield good results.

    [The devil] must then chime in with our sentiments, our instincts, even stimulate our devotion to liberty, and defeat liberty by compelling us to seek it in the wrong place, at the wrong time, or by improper means.

    1844 July, “Come-outerism”, in Orestes Augustus Brownson, editor, Brownson's quarterly review, volume 1, number 3, page 375
  2. idiomaticAt a location or in a situation by where something bad is about to happen at just the time of its occurrence by bad luck.

    It is a perplexing expression, since many of these young people were not in the "wrong place." ... I believe that when they say "I guess I was in the wrong place at the wrong time," they are reflecting on the randomness of violence.

    2009, John A. Rich, Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Trauma and Violence in the Lives of Young Black Men, →ISBN, page xvi
    1 more example

    ... W.H. Waring (Dellow) nearly cut short the life of a native of those parts who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and J.W. Cox got his Dellow up at incredible speed, with the front wheels leaping in the air most of the way.

    1951, Motor, volume 98, page 350

Synonyms & antonyms

Opposite
in the right place at the right time

Translations

German zur falschen Zeit am falschen Ort
  • zur falschen Zeit am falschen OrtTranslations
Italian nel posto sbagliato al momento sbagliato
  • nel posto sbagliato al momento sbagliatoTranslations
Romanian în locul nepotrivit la momentul nepotrivit
  • în locul nepotrivit la momentul nepotrivitTranslations
Russian не в том ме́сте не в то вре́мя
  • не в том ме́сте не в то вре́мя (ne v tom méste ne v to vrémja)Translations
Cite this entry
APA

in the wrong place at the wrong time. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20the%20wrong%20place%20at%20the%20wrong%20time

MLA

“in the wrong place at the wrong time.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20the%20wrong%20place%20at%20the%20wrong%20time. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “in the wrong place at the wrong time,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20the%20wrong%20place%20at%20the%20wrong%20time.

Source: in the wrong place at the wrong time on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.