MEANING
To begin a relationship or activity badly, creating difficulties from the start.
Use it for
starting a relationship badly; making a poor first impression; beginning a project with avoidable problems; creating tension at an initial meetingLocates a difficulty in the beginning of a relationship or undertaking rather than treating it as permanent. Writing functions: An unsuccessful beginning. Semantic categories (by meaning): Relationships; First impressions; Difficult beginnings. Contexts: General conversation; Creative prose.
On the page
We got off on the wrong foot when I mistook her for an applicant.
The negotiations got off on the wrong foot after both sides disputed the agenda.
Word forms
- Base
- get off on the wrong foot
Usage notes
Inflect get: gets off on the wrong foot; got off on the wrong foot; got/gotten off on the wrong foot; getting off on the wrong foot. Often with someone. Register: neutral. Commonness: common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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