the wrong side of

phrase

Older than (the stated age, typically a decade).

“She looked to be the wrong side of forty.”

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Meanings

phrase
  1. Older than (the stated age, typically a decade).

    She looked to be the wrong side of forty.

    1 more example

    Two weary, worn-out men, one of them on the wrong side of forty, a rocking-stone to take off from, a trembling point of rock some few feet across to land upon, and a bottomless gulf to be cleared in a raging gale!

    1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC
  2. Used in various other expressions to refer to an inimical or disfavoured condition.

    the wrong side of the tracks, the wrong side of the law, the wrong side of history

Cite this entry
APA

the wrong side of. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/the%20wrong%20side%20of

MLA

“the wrong side of.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/the%20wrong%20side%20of. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “the wrong side of,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/the%20wrong%20side%20of.

Source: the wrong side of on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.