flaw

¹ American  

[flaw] / flɔ /

noun

1. a feature that mars the perfection of something; defect; fault.

   beauty without flaw; the flaws in our plan.

   Synonyms:

   spot, blot, imperfection

2. a defect impairing legal soundness or validity.

3. a crack, break, breach, or rent.

   Synonyms:

   rift, fissure

---

verb (used with object)

1. to produce a flaw in.

verb (used without object)

1. to contract a flaw; become cracked or defective.

flaw ² American  

[flaw] / flɔ /

noun

1. Also called windflaw.  a sudden, usually brief windstorm or gust of wind.

2. a short spell of rough weather.

3. Obsolete. a burst of feeling, fury, etc.

---

flaw ¹ British  

/ flɔː /

noun

1. an imperfection, defect, or blemish

2. a crack, breach, or rift

3. law an invalidating fault or defect in a document or proceeding

---

verb

1. to make or become blemished, defective, or imperfect

flaw ² British  

/ flɔː /

noun

1. 1. a sudden short gust of wind; squall

   2. a spell of bad, esp windy, weather

2. obsolete an outburst of strong feeling

---

Related Words

See defect.

Other Word Forms

• flawless adjective
• flawlessly adverb
• flawlessness noun
• flawy adjective

Etymology

Origin of flaw¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English flage, flaw(e), perhaps from Old Norse flaga “sliver, flake”

Origin of flaw²

First recorded in 1475–85, flaw is from the Old Norse word flaga attack, squall

Example Sentences

“The Iranians don’t have the ability to uncover totally new vulnerabilities, or zero day vulnerabilities at scale,” he said, referring to previously unknown security flaws in software, hardware or firmware.

From The Wall Street Journal

In addition, it didn’t assign design staff to work on upgrades at the Airo maintenance facilities, resulting in design flaws and delays in construction on 21 Airo facilities by 10 to 13 months.

From The Wall Street Journal

Troy Brenes, an Orange County attorney who co-counseled with one of the firms over flawed medical devices, accused the company of operating a “sham law firm” as part of a 2022 court battle over fees.

From Los Angeles Times

Even if gaming could be eliminated, the law would be seriously flawed.

From The Wall Street Journal

A new review published in the journal Science argues that many long standing approaches to gifted education and talent development rest on flawed assumptions.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• blemish
• bug
• defect
• failing
• fault
• foible
• glitch
• pitfall
• weakness