correct

verb cor·rect \ kə-ˈrekt \

Updated on: 23 May 2018

Definition of correct

transitive verb

1 a : to make or set right : amend

correct an error

The editor corrected the author's manuscript.

b : counteract, neutralize

correct a harmful tendency

c : to alter or adjust so as to bring to some standard or required condition

correct a lens for spherical aberration

She's having surgery to correct her vision.

2 a : to discipline or punish (someone) for some fault or lapse

… I was most rude then. Only a small boy, Sir, and I was corrected for it, I assure you, by my father …
—Rex Ingamells

b : to point out usually for amendment the errors or faults of

spent the day correcting tests

—

correctable

play \kə-ˈrek-tə-bəl\ adjective

—

corrector

play \kə-ˈrek-tər\ noun

See correct defined for English-language learners

See correct defined for kids

Examples of correct in a Sentence

I hate it when she corrects my grammar.
Please correct your essay for punctuation errors.
Our teacher hasn't finished correcting our tests yet.
He corrects papers with a red pen.
We are finding ways to correct this difficult situation.
We'll correct the problem with the circuit as soon as possible.
These medicines are used for correcting chemical imbalances in the brain.

Recent Examples of correct from the Web

In addition, the FBI said Saturday that the number of injured had been corrected to 13 from 10, the Houston Chronicle reported.

— amy lieu, Fox News, "Texas school shooting suspect targeted girl who denied his advances, her mother says," 20 May 2018
Software that processes data from on-board cameras and radar units will watch out for impending crashes and try to stop the car before impact, or correct for the slow out-of-lane swerve of a tired driver.

— The Economist, "Toyota takes a winding road to autonomous vehicles," 19 May 2018
Someone has since corrected that, before, hopefully for their sake, the narcissistic Trump saw it.

— joe davidson, Washington Post, "Pay freeze, retirement cuts trump discussion of president’s management agenda," 18 May 2018
In practical terms that means correcting, complicating and providing alternatives to dominant art world myths, especially the legend of the lone, male genius.

— mary louise schumacher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Leaders rethinking choices and presentations at Milwaukee art museums in age of #MeToo," 18 May 2018
Well, Trump does have some responsibility here, correct?

— elizabeth crane, Recode, "Full transcript: ‘Microtrends’ author and political strategist Mark Penn on Recode Decode," 18 May 2018
Ultimately, the market may be betting that the feedback loop from the financial markets will ensure that any politically driven shock quickly becomes self-correcting.

— simon nixon, WSJ, "Italy’s Fanciful Coalition Draft Draws Investors’ Incredulity—For Now," 16 May 2018
Some are eager for the league to jump in and correct the sport’s course with rule changes — though it’s unclear which rule change, exactly, might unfilthify Chaz Roe’s slider or convince Joey Gallo not to want to jack dingers to the moon.

— ted berg, For The Win, "The problem with Major League Baseball is that players are too good at baseball," 16 May 2018
Editor's Note: The date of the concert has been corrected to Sept. 29, instead of Sept. 28.

— anne nickoloff, cleveland.com, "Modest Mouse to tour through Akron Civic Theatre in September," 15 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'correct.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of correct

Middle English, from Latin correctus, past participle of corrigere, from com- + regere to lead straight — more at right

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

correct Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of correct

correct, rectify, emend, remedy, redress, amend, reform, revise mean to make right what is wrong. correct implies taking action to remove errors, faults, deviations, defects.

- correct your spelling

rectify implies a more essential changing to make something right, just, or properly controlled or directed.

- rectify a misguided policy

emend specifically implies correction of a text or manuscript.

- emend a text

remedy implies removing or making harmless a cause of trouble, harm, or evil.

- set out to remedy the evils of the world

redress implies making compensation or reparation for an unfairness, injustice, or imbalance.

- redress past social injustices

amend, reform, revise imply an improving by making corrective changes, amend usually suggesting slight changes

- amend a law

, reform implying drastic change

- plans to reform the court system

, and revise suggesting a careful examination of something and the making of necessary changes.

- revise the schedule

synonyms see in addition punish

correct

adjective

Definition of correct

1 : conforming to an approved or conventional standard

correct behavior

2 : conforming to or agreeing with fact, logic, or known truth

a correct response

3 : conforming to a set figure

enclosed the correct return postage

4 : conforming to the strict requirements of a specific ideology or set of beliefs or values

environmentally correct

spiritually correct

—

correctly

play \kə-ˈrek(t)-lē\ adverb

—

correctness

play \kə-ˈrek(t)-nəs\ noun

See correct defined for English-language learners

Examples of correct in a Sentence

What's the correct answer to this question?
Her watch never tells the correct time.
an anatomically correct drawing of the human body
Did I give you the correct change?
With the correct amount of water and sunlight, the plant will grow well.

Recent Examples of correct from the Web

If the Reuters numbers are correct, then the shift could quite possibly be attributed to West’s tireless efforts to cape for Trump.

— stephen a. crockett jr., The Root, "Trump Just Thanked Kanye for Doubling His Poll Numbers; Here’s Why This Has Become Dangerous," 4 May 2018
This will protect your knee joint and ensure the correct muscle activation.

— SELF, "Why This Lunge Series from Candace Cameron-Bure’s Trainer is Such a Good Leg Workout," 1 May 2018
Our precipitation forecast of 3 to 4 inches of rainfall (compared with the normal of 3.06 inches) also was correct, given the 3.59 inches that fell.

— matt rogers, Washington Post, "What spring? For the first time in 11 years, April was colder than normal in Washington.," 1 May 2018
Among the implausible factors is that for Reid’s story to be correct, someone would have had to hack her blog back in the ’00s, but no one, including Reid herself, noticed the invalid posts.

— alexis c. madrigal, The Atlantic, "The Evidence Is Not With Joy Reid," 25 Apr. 2018
In all likelihood, Gardenhire is correct, especially on his first point: Both teams have new managers.

— anthony fenech, Detroit Free Press, "Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees expect no more brawls at Comerica Park," 13 Apr. 2018
Perhaps, just perhaps this teaches that to be kosher one's behavior must not only be correct, but inwardly pure.

— rabbi avi weiss, Jewish Journal, "The rationale for the dietary laws," 9 Apr. 2018
At least one of them will be correct, in terms of plot armor: Morgan, as the person who is bridging the gap between the two sides of the Walking Dead TV franchise, is safe for the time being.

— josh wigler, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Fear the Walking Dead': Where Everyone Left Off and What's Next (After the Big Crossover)," 8 Apr. 2018
The tower in the movie looks correct, but the cartoonish bomb (with fins and all) is not.

— joe pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, "Hollywood Has No Idea How Nukes Work," 2 Apr. 2018

Origin and Etymology of correct

Middle English, corrected, from Latin correctus, from past participle of corrigere — see ¹correct

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1668

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

correct Synonyms

Synonyms

befitting, de rigueur, decent, decorous, genteel, nice, polite, proper, respectable, seemly;

Antonyms

improper, inappropriate, incorrect, indecent, indecorous, indelicate, unbecoming, ungenteel, unseemly;

Near Antonyms

intolerable, unacceptable, unsatisfactory;

casual, grungy, informal;

seedy, shabby, tacky;

banned, barred, disallowed;

forbidden, interdicted, outlawed, prohibited, proscribed;

dress, dressy, formal;

dignified, elegant, gracious;

priggish, prim, stiff, stuffy;

apt, material, relevant;

allowed, authorized, kosher, permitted;

Synonym Discussion of correct

correct, accurate, exact, precise, nice, right mean conforming to fact, standard, or truth. correct usually implies freedom from fault or error.

- correct answers
- socially correct dress

accurate implies fidelity to fact or truth attained by exercise of care.

- an accurate description

exact stresses a very strict agreement with fact, standard, or truth.

- exact measurements

precise adds to exact an emphasis on sharpness of definition or delimitation.

- precise calibration

nice stresses great precision and delicacy of adjustment or discrimination.

- makes nice distinctions

right is close to correct but has a stronger positive emphasis on conformity to fact or truth rather than mere absence of error or fault.

- the right thing to do

CORRECT Defined for English Language Learners

correct

verb

Definition of correct for English Language Learners

: to change (something) so that it is right, true, proper, etc. : to make (something) correct
: to mark the errors on (something that a person has written)
: to deal with or take care of (a problem, bad situation, etc.) successfully

correct

adjective

Definition of correct for English Language Learners

: true or accurate : agreeing with facts
: having no errors or mistakes
: proper or appropriate in a particular situation

CORRECT Defined for Kids

correct

verb cor·rect \ kə-ˈrekt \

Definition of correct for Students

corrected; correcting

1 : to make or set right

Please correct any misspelled words.

2 : to change or adjust so as to bring to some standard or to a required condition

My watch was slow, so I corrected it.

Glasses will correct your vision.

3 : to punish in order to improve

… Buldeo went out angrily … anxious to correct Mowgli for not taking better care of the herd.
—Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book

4 : to show how a thing can be improved or made right

She corrected the students' papers.

correct

adjective

Definition of correct for Students

1 : free from mistakes : accurate

the correct answer

2 : meeting or agreeing with some standard : appropriate

correct behavior

correct dress for school

—

correctly

adverb

—

correctness

noun

Word Root of correct

The Latin word rēctus, meaning “straight” or “right,” gives us the root rect. Words from the Latin rēctus have something to do with being straight or correct. Something erect stands straight up. Something correct is right. A rectangle is a shape made of four straight lines and four right angles.

Synonym Discussion of correct

correct, exact, and accurate mean agreeing with a fact, truth, or standard. correct is used for something that contains no errors.

- Can you give me correct directions?

exact is used for something that agrees very closely with fact or truth.

- I need the exact measurements of the room.

accurate is used when great care has been taken to make sure that something agrees with the facts.

- He gave an accurate description of the scene.

Medical Dictionary

correct

transitive verb cor·rect \ kə-ˈrekt \

medical Definition of correct

: to alter or adjust so as to bring to some standard or required condition

correct a lens for spherical aberration

—

correctable

play \-ˈrek-tə-bəl\ adjective

Learn More about correct

See words that rhyme with correct Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for correct Spanish Central: Translation of correct Nglish: Translation of correct for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of correct for Arabic speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up correct? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show

correct

Definition of correct

correctable

corrector

Examples of correct in a Sentence

Recent Examples of correct from the Web

Origin and Etymology of correct

correct Synonyms

Synonyms

Antonyms

Near Antonyms

Related Words

Synonym Discussion of correct

correct

Definition of correct

correctly

correctness

Examples of correct in a Sentence

Recent Examples of correct from the Web

Origin and Etymology of correct

correct Synonyms

Synonyms

Antonyms

Near Antonyms

Related Words

Synonym Discussion of correct

Phrases Related to CORRECT

Related Phrases

CORRECT Defined for English Language Learners

correct

Definition of correct for English Language Learners

correct

Definition of correct for English Language Learners

CORRECT Defined for Kids

correct

Definition of correct for Students

correct

Definition of correct for Students

correctly

correctness

Word Root of correct

Synonym Discussion of correct

Medical Dictionary

correct

medical Definition of correct

correctable

Learn More about correct

Seen and Heard

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games

8 Insults Made Up of a Noun and a Verb

'Judicial' v. 'Judicious': We'll Settle The Case

May 2018 Words of the Day Quiz

Trending: Melania Trump Undergoes 'Embolization'

Ghost Word