Incorrect

How to spell incorrect

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce incorrect

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does incorrect mean?

1. adjectiveNot correct; containing errors or not in accordance with fact or truth.

Incorrect in a sentence

• The report contained several incorrect figures that had to be amended.

• Her assumption about the deadline turned out to be incorrect.

Where does incorrect come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin incorrectus, formed by adding the negative prefix in-, meaning 'not', to correctus, the past participle of corrigere. The verb corrigere literally meant 'to make straight' or 'to set right', built from the prefix com-, used here as an intensifier, and regere, meaning 'to guide or rule'. So the underlying image is of something that has not been straightened out or put in order. English took the word in during the late 1500s, by which point it carried the modern sense of being wrong, inaccurate, or improper. The same regere root sits inside everyday relatives such as 'direct', 'regular', and 'regime', all of which trace back to the idea of guiding or ruling.

How the word is built

• in- (not)
• correct (from Latin correctus: set right, from corrigere)