correct
Americanverb (used with object)
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corrects,
present (3rd person singular)
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corrected,
past participle, past
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correcting
present participle
-
to set or make true, accurate, or right; remove the errors or faults from: The new glasses corrected his eyesight.
The native guide corrected our pronunciation.
The new glasses corrected his eyesight.
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to point out or mark the errors in.
The teacher corrected the examination papers.
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to scold, rebuke, or punish in order to improve.
Should parents correct their children in public?
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to counteract the operation or effect of (something hurtful or undesirable).
The medication will correct stomach acidity.
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Mathematics, Physics. to alter or adjust so as to bring into accordance with a standard or with a required condition.
verb (used without object)
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corrects,
present (3rd person singular)
-
corrected,
past participle, past
-
correcting
present participle
-
to make a correction or corrections.
-
(of stock prices) to reverse a trend, especially temporarily, as after a sharp advance or decline in previous trading sessions.
adjective
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conforming to fact or truth; free from error; accurate.
a correct answer.
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in accordance with an acknowledged or accepted standard; proper.
correct behavior.
-
(of a judgment or opinion) just or right.
I feel this decision is correct because of the defendant’s age.
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characterized by or adhering to a liberal or progressive ideology on matters of ethnicity, religion, sexuality, ecology, etc..
Is it environmentally correct to buy a real Christmas tree?
Most of the judges in this district have correct political views.
verb
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to make free from errors
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to indicate the errors in
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to rebuke or punish in order to set right or improve
to correct a child
to stand corrected
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to counteract or rectify (a malfunction, ailment, etc)
these glasses will correct your sight
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to adjust or make conform, esp to a standard
adjective
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free from error; true; accurate
the correct version
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in conformity with accepted standards
correct behaviour
Synonym Usage
See punish. Correct, accurate, precise imply conformity to fact, standard, or truth. A correct statement is one free from error, mistakes, or faults. An accurate statement is one that shows careful conformity to fact, truth, or spirit. A precise statement shows scrupulously strict and detailed conformity to fact.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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correctabilitynoun
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correctibilitynoun
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correctnessnoun
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correctornoun
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recorrectverb (used with object)
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correctableadjective
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correctibleadjective
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uncorrectedadjective
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well-correctedadjective
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correctlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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correctsimple
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correctssimple
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have correctedperfect
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has correctedperfect
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am correctingprogressive
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are correctingprogressive
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is correctingprogressive
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have been correctingperfect progressive
-
has been correctingperfect progressive
Past
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correctedsimple
-
had correctedperfect
-
was correctingprogressive
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were correctingprogressive
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had been correctingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of correct
First recorded in 1300–50; (verb) Middle English correcten, from Anglo-French correcter, from Latin corrēctus (past participle of corrigere “to make straight, set right”) equivalent to cor- cor- + reg- (stem of regere “to keep straight, make straight, guide” ( see direct) + -tus past participle suffix; (adjective) from French correct, from Latin, as above
Explanation
When something is true, legitimate or right, you can say it's correct, using the word as an adjective. It can also be a verb; to correct wrong answers is to adjust them to make them right. The origin of correct can be found in the Latin word regere, "to guide," which became correctus as the past participle of corrigere, meaning "to straighten." When you correct your posture, you sit up straight. Sometimes when your cell phone tries to correct your spelling you can end up with some amusing sentences.
Vocabulary lists containing correct
Century 21 Accounting, 9e, Chapters 4-7
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
As a result, M. aurita is the correct scientific name.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026
Knowing De Zerbi likes his sides to play through the centre of the pitch, it is easy to think that asking the midfielder to stay in the middle would be the correct answer here.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
She is correct: Losing workplace health insurance qualifies your friend, or anyone else in a similar position, for a special enrollment period on HealthCare.gov.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 22, 2026
The app may display that forecast with a partly cloudy icon for the region, which will be correct for 70 percent of the area, but not for the 30 percent that actually gets pouring rain.”
From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026
“I don’t mind any of them, but dwarf is the appropriate word since I have dwarfism. But the acceptable term if you want to be politically correct is little person.”
From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith
He pauses, then corrects himself: "As fast as possible, of course."
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
“It’s not a romance, it’s a love story,” she immediately corrects him.
From Salon ● Jun. 4, 2026
As the market corrects its math, the quality names should outperform.
From Barron's ● May 29, 2026
"After 160 years of getting it wrong, this paper corrects this very important feature based not on guesswork, but on empirical evidence."
From Science Daily ● Apr. 24, 2026
“You can’t be the conductor and the drummer,” Nash corrects him.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
But information arrives in fragments: a barcode result here, a recall notice there, a corrected FDA finding, a corporate statement, a congressional inquiry.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
Frantic attempts to find survivors continued, as authorities revised the death toll down to 216 after local officials in Cali corrected earlier figures.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
Ofcom said the incident breached Rule 5.1, which requires news to be reported with due accuracy, and Rule 5.2, which says significant mistakes must be corrected quickly.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Without pressing the matter, the script by Mr. Johnson, Todd Bartels, Lou Howe and Matthew Miller illustrates how vital it is for a young scamp to get corrected by tough, pitiless direction.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
If its orbit wasn’t corrected, it was going to crash to Earth.
From "Ugly" by Robert Hoge
Snider notes that the best-performing parts of the AI trade were the places hedge funds added most during the second quarter, and unsurprisingly, these were the sectors correcting most severely in July.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026
This begins with correcting the dearth of knowledge inside the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other U.S. government agencies about the Brotherhood and Islamism in general.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
“I’m his lawyer,” Blanche replied, before correcting himself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
After correcting, he was greeted by a section of The Oval crowd rising to applaud him.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
Minerva is up on a stool, counting cans, correcting herself, adding “more or less,” when Dede repeats the figure before she writes it down.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
