错
cuò
mistake
surname Cuo; wrong; bad; interlocking; complex; to grind; to polish; to alternate; to stagger; to miss; to let slip; to evade; to inlay with gold or silver
metal (钅) + past/worn (昔) = things gone wrong or misaligned
昔 originally depicted layered days piled up, suggesting the past or something worn and uneven. Metal (钅) that has become uneven or misaligned through time evokes the idea of things gone wrong or out of place.
你说的答案是错的，要再想一想。
nǐ shuō de dá àn shì cuò de， yào zài xiǎng yi xiǎng。
The answer you gave is wrong; you should think about it again.
这件事我确实做错了，我向你道歉。
zhè jiàn shì wǒ què shí zuò cuò le， wǒ xiàng nǐ dào qiàn。
I truly made a mistake in this matter; I apologize to you.
Words with 错
交错
jiāo cuò
to crisscross
错失
cuò shī
fault
冤假错案
yuān jiǎ cuò àn
unjust, fake and false charges (in a legal case)
盘根错节
pán gēn cuò jié
twisted roots and intertwined joints (idiom); complicated and very tricky
错落有致
cuò luò yǒu zhì
in picturesque disorder (idiom); irregular arrangement with charming effect
容错
róng cuò
(of a system) fault-tolerant
大错
dà cuò
blunder
听错
tīng cuò
to mishear
运行时错误
yùn xíng shí cuò wù
run-time error (in computing)
过错
guò cuò
mistake
错配
cuò pèi
to be mismatched
逻辑错误
luó ji cuò wù
logical error