Meanings
- ethicsA wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action.
"But when it comes to taking what belongs to another—well, a thief is a thief. . . . After all, two wrongs don't make a right, do they?"
1915, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 15, in The Highgrader2 more examples
"Late in the fight, Roger told me Zab was going to do something dirty, and he did it," Mayweather said after the fight. "I didn't return it, because two wrongs don't make a right."
2006 April 9, Clifton Brown, “Boxing: Mayweather Is Crowned, but not without a Fight”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 03 Feb 2019, retrieved 17 Jun 2009I have no doubt that while the industry loses a great deal of revenue owing to fraudulent travel, it probably more than makes up for it by allowing journey planners to charge too much for journeys - and two wrongs don't make a right.
2023 May 31, Barry Doe, “A potential downside of ticket reform needs consideration”, in RAIL, number 984, page 58Antonyms: two wrongs make a right
Synonyms & antonyms
proverbA wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 冤冤相報永無完了 /冤冤相报永无完了
- 冤冤相報永無完了 /冤冤相报永无完了 (yuānyuānxiāngbào yǒng wú wánliǎo)a wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action
Esperanto du eraroj ne faras rajton
- du eraroj ne faras rajtona wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action
Hungarian az egyik fél vétsége nem teszi a másik vétségét semmissé
- az egyik fél vétsége nem teszi a másik vétségét semmisséa wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action
Italian due torti non fanno una ragione
- due torti non fanno una ragionea wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action
Polish dwa zła nie czynią dobra
- dwa zła nie czynią dobraa wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action
Portuguese dois erros não fazem um acerto
- dois erros não fazem um acertoa wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action
Spanish el fin no justifica los medios
- el fin no justifica los mediosa wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action
Swedish två fel gör inte ett rätt
- två fel gör inte ett rätta wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action
Cite this entry
two wrongs don't make a right. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/two%20wrongs%20don't%20make%20a%20right
“two wrongs don't make a right.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/two%20wrongs%20don't%20make%20a%20right. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “two wrongs don't make a right,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/two%20wrongs%20don't%20make%20a%20right.
Source: two wrongs don't make a right on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.