Idiom
Barking up the wrong tree
By EasySay. Published . Updated .
Barking up the wrong tree means following a wrong idea or blaming the wrong person.
The picture is a dog barking at a tree with nothing in it. If the police arrest the wrong person, they are barking up the wrong tree. People say it at work and in everyday talk, and it is a little blunt.
Written for EasySay, in our own words.
In short
- AvoidIt can sound rude, because it says someone is wrong.
- Or sayOn the wrong track
- AUCambridge and Longman give it no style label.
Barking up the wrong tree: what it is, and what it is not
- IS
- Following a wrong idea or blaming the wrong person.
- IS
- About 0.11 times per million words in British books, 2010 to 2019.
- IS
- About 0.07 times per million words in American books, 2010 to 2019.
- IS NOT
- About a dog at a tree: it means following a wrong idea or blaming the wrong person.
Meaning: To follow a wrong idea or blame the wrong person.
How do people say it?
- In conversation:
If you think I ate your cake, you are barking up the wrong tree.
- At work:
The fault is in the server, so the team fixing the phones is barking up the wrong tree.
Check yourself
What should I know?
The words say
A dog barking loudly at the bottom of a tree where no animal hides.
It really means
You have the wrong idea, the wrong person or the wrong plan.
What do dictionaries say?
- In Australia
- Cambridge and Longman give it no style label. The dictionaries we checked give it no Australian label, so it is general English, not only from Australia.
- In the UK
- Google Books (2010 to 2019): about 0.11 times per million words in British books.
- In the US
- Google Books (2010 to 2019): about 0.07 times per million words in American books.
What mistakes should I avoid?
- It can sound rude, because it says someone is wrong. Soften it with “I think” or “maybe”.
- Dogs bark “up” a tree in this phrase. “Barking at the wrong tree” is not the idiom.
- Use it for a wrong idea, not for a small slip. A typing error is not barking up the wrong tree.
The picture comes from hunting, where dogs chased small animals up trees and barked below until the hunter arrived. Sometimes the animal had slipped away to another tree, and the dog barked on at nothing.
The hunter's wasted walk is inside the phrase: effort, noise and full confidence, all aimed at the wrong place. That is why the idiom stings a little. It says not only that you are wrong, but that you have been loudly wrong for a while.
Because it stings, wrap it before you hand it over. “I think you may be barking up the wrong tree” is the common shape.
“I think” takes the blame off the other person. “May be” leaves room to be wrong yourself.
Upward, toward a manager or a customer, drop the idiom and give the fact instead: “The fault sits in the server, not the phones.” The idiom is for equals, for friends, and for moments when a little bluntness is welcome.
Hold this phrase against its opposite, “hit the nail on the head”. One names a wrong idea, the other praises an exactly right one, and together they cover the whole range of guessing.
“Beat around the bush” sits nearby too: where barking is confident and wrong, beating about is vague and slow. Three hunting and talking pictures, three different failures and fixes. Learn them as a small family and you will reach for the right one without thinking.
What else can I say?
- On the wrong track Softer, and fine in writing.
- Wide of the mark For a guess that misses by a lot.
- Looking in the wrong place Plain and kind.
More idioms
- Beat around the bush To avoid saying the main point directly, usually because it feels awkward.
- Hit the nail on the head To say exactly the right thing; to name the real point.
More examples
- In a text:
Not me. You are barking up the wrong tree, I was home all night.
Questions people ask
Is “barking up the wrong tree” rude?
It can sound blunt, because it says someone is wrong. Add “I think you may be” to soften it, or give the plain fact instead.
Do I need a dog to use it?
No. The dog is only the picture. People say it about ideas, plans and blame, not about real animals.
What is the opposite?
“Hit the nail on the head” praises an exactly right answer. The two make a neat pair for wrong and right.
Sources and dates
- EasySay's own writing for the idioms, EasySay. Licence: original writing for EasySay. Checked .
- Google Books Ngram Viewer: counts per million words, 2010 to 2019, Google. Licence: our own words, from the facts in the source. Checked . Counts read from the Google Books Ngram Viewer (British and American English corpora, 2010 to 2019). Google publishes the Ngram data under CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
Cite this page
EasySay. "Barking up the wrong tree". https://easysay.org/idioms/barking-up-the-wrong-tree. Last updated 23 October 2026.
https://easysay.org/idioms/barking-up-the-wrong-tree