on the wrong foot
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They got on the wrong foot right from the start, with the Saudi king refusing to recognize the U.A.E. for years after statehood in 1971 over territorial disputes.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 30, 2026
Apple’s approach to artificial intelligence got off on the wrong foot in 2024.
From Barron's • Apr. 24, 2026
They got off on the wrong foot in a game at Green Bay in 1965, when Shula’s Colts lost on a field goal that sailed over one of the uprights.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 9, 2024
His image as the brash, bellicose chef and restaurateur, as the master of the culinary meltdown, was, he said, largely a matter of getting off on the wrong foot.
From New York Times • Jan. 27, 2024
“Let’s not get off on the wrong foot here, Holling. Forms are how we organize this school, and forms are never wrong, are they?”
From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt
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.
