fallible
adjective
Did you know?
“Humanum est errare” is a Latin expression that translates as “To err is human.” Of course, cynics might say that it is also human to deceive. The history of the word fallible simultaneously recognizes both of these character flaws. In modern usage, fallible refers to one’s ability to make mistakes, but it descends from the Latin verb fallere, which means “to deceive.” Fallible has been used to describe the potential for error since at least the 15th century. Other descendants of fallere in English, all of which actually predate fallible, include fallacy (the earliest, now obsolete, meaning was “guile, trickery”), fault, false, and even fjail. Whoops, we mean fail.
Examples of fallible in a Sentence
Bill Stone, Forbes, 2 Mar. 2025
Maybe the most contentious issue ever to divide these two camps is whether or not to replace notoriously inaccurate human home plate umpires with less fallible machines.
—Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 21 Feb. 2025
Liverpool are what league champions used to look like: excellent, but with their fragilities; fallible winners who would have nervy halves against teams such as Wolves from time to time.
—Nick Miller, The Athletic, 16 Feb. 2025
An angel doesn’t have a body, certainly not a fallible one full of viscera and waste and gore.
—Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 6 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fallible
Cite this Entry
“Fallible.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fallible. Accessed 18 Mar. 2025.
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fallible
adjective
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