correct

verb cor·rect \ kə-ˈrekt \

Updated on: 13 Apr 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 the event that figures cannot be corrected with verified original research records, then retractions will be required.

— alison mccook, Science | AAAS, "Cancer researcher at The Ohio State University resigns following multiple misconduct findings," 30 Mar. 2018
How much of their offense was a product of the ballpark – and how much that could be corrected by the humidor – remains to be seen.

— nick piecoro, azcentral, "Arizona Diamondbacks' lineup looks thin with Steven Souza injured," 28 Mar. 2018
The Army also said the data would be corrected, and the military scrapped the program.

— NBC News, "Research misconduct allegations shadow likely CDC appointee," 21 Mar. 2018
Brady also admitted that the club's transfer policy has been wrong, giving too much power to people at board level - something which will be corrected going forwards.

— SI.com, "Karren Brady Apologises for West Ham Pitch Invasion and Pledges No More Board Interference," 17 Mar. 2018
Taylor’s 157-page study will take time to digest, and there are some errors that will need to be corrected.

— the kansas city star editorial board, kansascity, "Kansas school funding report blows a hole in conservative doctrine | The Kansas City Star," 16 Mar. 2018
Sharma believed Hayek – that long forgotten Austrian economist who thought that major bubbles had to be corrected by Depression like periods of pain – might just be right.

— Newsweek, "Analysis," 14 Mar. 2018
The commissioners were doing a volunteer job with a lot of paper, and there are problems with the staff that need to be corrected.

— joshua emerson smith, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Judge's tentative ruling clears the way for potentially huge fines against Coastal Commissioners," 12 Mar. 2018
Details of those flaws and how they should be corrected were given by federal officials to Richardson in a classified report in December, according to the document, signed by Leslie Cummings, the deputy secretary of state.

— gordon r. friedman, OregonLive.com, "Dennis Richardson seeks staff to combat Russia meddling in Oregon elections," 27 Feb. 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

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

Also on Monday, Dr. Gregory Davis of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine testified that the county Medicinal Examiner Office was correct to call the death a suicide.

— gary warth, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Expert: knots used to tie Zahau's body consistent with suicides," 26 Mar. 2018
The answer to the objection, however, is that special pleaders on behalf of journalism are correct on the merits.

— matthew yglesias, Vox, "The case against Facebook," 9 Apr. 2018
But Lonergan, who wrote and directed the Oscar-winning 2016 movie Manchester by the Sea, conveys that no one in Howards End is entirely correct.

— sophie gilbert, The Atlantic, "Howards End Is a Lavish Portrait of Cultural Division," 8 Apr. 2018
See Photos of Itchy Animals 1 / 30 View Images What do people think about animals that isn’t correct?

— National Geographic, "How Animal Rescues Like Justin Beaver Help Their Species," 7 Apr. 2018
Kapler is correct that Crawford also struggled out of the gate last year at Lehigh Valley.

— bob brookover, Philly.com, "Phillies get a day off following Gabe Kapler's home debut boos | Extra Innings," 6 Apr. 2018
Get our daily newsletter Mr Trump was partly correct.

— The Economist, "A new season of “Roseanne” for the Trump era," 5 Apr. 2018
Spielberg’s assertion that there’s nothing wrong with this name change is not 100 percent correct, because this is not actually how last names work.

— megan farokhmanesh, The Verge, "Indiana Joan Jones is the female lady heroine that women need," 5 Apr. 2018
Alex Damien, Waukesha city engineer, said public works officials will review the specifications to make sure the turn radius is correct for long trucks.

— jim riccioli, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Waukesha about to start the biggest leg yet of the Main Street reconstruction project," 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

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

Going Greek: 7 Words from the Greek Alphabet

'Preventive' or 'Preventative'?

Odd Habits and Quirks Quiz

Trending: Trump: Den of Thieves and 'Lowlifes'

2017 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes