- correct
- correct vb 1 Correct, rectify, emend, remedy, redress, amend, reform, revise mean to set or make right something which is wrong.One corrects something which is inaccurate, untrue, or imperfect or which contains errors, faults, or defects, when one by substitutions brings it into conformity with a standard or rule of accuracy, truth, or perfection{
corrected his mistakes in pronunciation
}{correct printers' proofs
}{appellate jurisdiction . . . revises and corrects the proceedings in a cause already instituted— John Marshall
}Also, one corrects a person when one points out his errors or faults for disciplinary purposes (see also PUNISH){she's been with me such a long time . . . . She takes liberties. I've corrected her once or twice— Bennett
}One thing corrects another thing when the former serves to counteract or neutralize the bad effect of the latter{alkaline tablets to correct stomach acidity
}{his head corrects his heart in the choice of friends
}One rectifies something which requires straightening out or ordering because it deviates from the rule or standard of what is right, just, equitable, or properly controlled or directed{rectify a mistake in an account
}{rectify an error of judgment
}{reason is here no guide, but still a guard: 'tis hers to rectify, not overthrow, and treat this passion more as friend than foe— Pope
}{an incredible, disgraceful blunder, which should be rectified at the earliest possible moment—New Republic
}One emends a thing when one frees it from error or defects; specifically an editor emends a corrupt text when he replaces doubtful readings with others that are judged to be closer to the original or to the intention of the author{the eighteenth- century editors of Shakespeare freely emended the texts of his plays
}One remedies something which is a source of evil or harm when one makes such corrections as will either bring about its eradication or restore what is harmed to a normal, sound, or prosperous condition{the crime can never be remedied, it can only be expiated— Day Lewis
}{remedy an abuse of a privilege
}{remedy the maldistribution of relief
}{remedy a social evil
}One redresses something which involves unfairness, injustice, or lack of proper balance; the word usually suggests reparation or compensation{there is no calamity which right words will not begin to redress— Emerson
}{the wrongs that were to be righted, the grievances to be redressed, the abuses to be done away with— Muggeridge
}One amends something when one makes such corrections or changes in it that it is bettered or raised to a higher standard{amend his life
}{the work once done he could not or would not amend it— Yeats
}{laws that are not repealed are amended and amended— Shaw
}One reforms something when one makes drastic changes in it in an attempt to eliminate imperfections; the word usually implies a new form or character{reform the church
}{the fact is that the world does not care to be reformed . . . . This makes the way of the improver hard— Crothersy
}One revises something when one looks it over to discover where it requires correction or amendment and makes the necessary changes{revise a book before its second printing
}{revise a state constitution
}{there can be no doubt as to the jurisdiction of this court to revise the judgment of a Circuit Court— Taney
}Analogous words: *improve, better, ameliorate: offset, *compensate, countervail, counterbalance, balance: *neutralize, counteract: *adjust, regulate, fix: *reprove, reprimand, admonish, chide2 discipline, *punish, chastise, chasten, castigatecorrect adj Correct, accurate, exact, precise, nice, right are comparable when meaning conforming to standard, fact, or truth.Correct, the most colorless term, implies scarcely more than freedom from fault or error, as judged by some (usually) conventional or acknowledged standard{socially correct dress
}{correct school deportment
}{a supposed center of correct information, correct judgment, correct taste— Arnold
}{it is our custom at Shangri-La to be moderately truthful, and I can assure you that my statements about the porters were almost correct— Hilton
}Accurate implies more positively fidelity to fact or truth attained by the exercise of care{an accurate statement
}{an accurate observer
}{a reasonably accurate and refined use of the mother tongue— Eliot
}Exact emphasizes the strictness or rigor of the agreement, which neither exceeds nor falls short of the fact, a standard, or the truth{an exact likeness
}{the exact value
}{his exact words
}{the acquisition of exact knowledge ... is essential to every kind of excellence— Russell
}Precise stresses sharpness of definition or delimitation, or scrupulous exactness (jyrecise statements of principles— Benson){she did not . . . understand ... the precise nature of what she was doing— Conrad
}Nice implies great, occasionally excessive, precision and delicacy (as in discrimination, adjustment, or statement){a nice calculation
}{an over nice distinction
}{Overbalance the nice adjustment on either side of the scale, and loss is the inevitable result— Lowes
}{it was a time of revolution, when nice legal distinctions are meaningless— Buchan
}Right (see also GOOD) stresses an absence of deviation from and, therefore, a strict accordance with the facts, the truth, or a standard. Often it is so close in meaning to correct that it is only in collocations where the latter's stress on freedom from error or fault is set up against right's emphasis on strict accordance with the facts, truth, or a standard that one can determine which word is preferable; thus, an answer to a problem in arithmetic may be said to be either correct or right; a gentleman of faultless manners and dress is said to be correct (not right); one seeking a friend in conformance with some socially or personally acceptable standard watches for the right (not correct) person{though he gave an assumed name the police know his right name
}{the right man for the job— Redman
}Analogous words: *impeccable, faultless, flawless: punctilious, punctual, scrupulous, meticulous, *carefulAntonyms: incorrect
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
