get/start off on the wrong foot
idiom
: to begin a relationship badly
They got off on the wrong foot when they first met and they've disliked each other ever since.
Examples of get/start off on the wrong foot in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The pair get off on the wrong foot when Ivy throws June out of a game for grandstanding.
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Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 18 Oct. 2024
Why rile up a dysfunctional Palestinian cause, anger the Arab states (and especially Jordan), risk potential headaches with the Europeans, and in the event of a new U.S. administration, start off on the wrong foot?
—Aaron David Miller, Foreign Affairs, 30 June 2020
The comedian plays a pair of siblings that get off on the wrong foot during Thanksgiving.
—Samantha Olson, Seventeen, 29 Nov. 2022
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Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 18 Oct. 2024
Why rile up a dysfunctional Palestinian cause, anger the Arab states (and especially Jordan), risk potential headaches with the Europeans, and in the event of a new U.S. administration, start off on the wrong foot?
—Aaron David Miller, Foreign Affairs, 30 June 2020
The comedian plays a pair of siblings that get off on the wrong foot during Thanksgiving.
—Samantha Olson, Seventeen, 29 Nov. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Get/start off on the wrong foot.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/get%2Fstart%20off%20on%20the%20wrong%20foot. Accessed 15 Jul. 2025.
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