Meanings
plural wrongdoings · alternative wrong-doing
- uncountableusuallyViolation of standards of behavior.
A Chinese proverb goes, "He who commits wrongdoing repeatedly will come to no good end."
Synonyms: baseness, degeneracy, wickedness, baseness, corruption, defilement, degeneracy, degradation
- countableusuallyAn instance of doing wrong.
I said that some ancient stories suggested that those who were unrighteous or who had committed wrongdoings were more susceptible to plagues or disasters. And sometimes plagues just miraculously disappeared after people realized their wrongdoings and repented.
2020 February 24, “Family and Friends Treasure Falun Dafa Information in the Face of Novel Coronavirus Epidemic”, in MinghuiSynonyms: misdeed, misdoing, sin, crime, delict, delinquency, error, malfeasance
Synonyms & antonyms
nounViolation of standards of behavior.
nounAn instance of doing wrong.
More synonyms by meaning
nounactivity that transgresses moral or civil law
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishwrong doyng
- Englishwrongdoing
From Middle English wrong doyng, wrong doynge, wrong doinge, equivalent to wrong + doing.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian закононарушение, нарушение
- закононарушение (zakononarušenie)violation of standards
- нарушение (narušenie)violation of standards
- простъпка (prostăpka)instance of doing wrong
- провинение (provinenie)instance of doing wrong
- злосторство (zlostorstvo)instance of doing wrong
Finnish rikkomus, pahanteko
- rikkomusviolation of standards
- pahantekoviolation of standards
- pahantekoinstance of doing wrong
French malfaisance, malfaisance
- malfaisanceviolation of standards
- malfaisanceinstance of doing wrong
- méfaitinstance of doing wrong
German Fehlverhalten
- Fehlverhaltenviolation of standards
Greek παράπτωμα, αμάρτημα
- παράπτωμα (paráptoma)violation of standards
- αμάρτημα (amártima)violation of standards
- αδίκημα (adíkima)instance of doing wrong
Italian illecito, violazione
- illecitoviolation of standards
- violazioneviolation of standards
- malefattainstance of doing wrong
- iniquitàinstance of doing wrong
- ingiustiziainstance of doing wrong
- malcostumeinstance of doing wrong
Polish naruszenie, naruszenie
- naruszenieviolation of standards
- naruszenieinstance of doing wrong
Portuguese malfeitoria, transgressão
- malfeitoriaviolation of standards
- transgressãoviolation of standards
- malfeitoriainstance of doing wrong
- malfeitoinstance of doing wrong
- maldadeinstance of doing wrong
Russian правонаруше́ние, просту́пок
- правонаруше́ние (pravonarušénije)violation of standards
- просту́пок (prostúpok)instance of doing wrong
Spanish fechoría, maldad
- fechoríaviolation of standards
- maldadviolation of standards
- ilícitoviolation of standards
- maldadinstance of doing wrong
- iniquidadinstance of doing wrong
- infamiainstance of doing wrong
Cite this entry
wrongdoing. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wrongdoing
“wrongdoing.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wrongdoing. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wrongdoing,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wrongdoing.
Source: wrongdoing on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.