flawed
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of flawed
Explanation
Things that are flawed are less than perfect. A flawed dinner plate might have a small chip in it, and a flawed English paper includes at least one mistake. Flawed objects have some kind of imperfection — a dent or a blemish. No one's perfect, so everyone is flawed in some way, but when this word describes a person it often means "weak in character."A Shakespearian flawed hero has some flaw or foible that will ultimately be his undoing: in other words, a "fatal flaw." Flawed comes from flaw, originally "a flake of snow," later "a splinter," and finally "an imperfection."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The fact St. John Bosco is No. 7 shows the rankings are flawed, but don't worry.
From Los Angeles Times • May 5, 2026
It did so based on a report widely debunked as methodologically flawed, and even “junk science.”
From Slate • May 4, 2026
Yaroslavsky, who lives in Mid City, defended her position on housing, contending that SB 79 was deeply flawed and that she is working to minimize its negative impacts.
From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026
The regulator was also found to have taken a flawed approach to deciding what was academic freedom.
From BBC • Apr. 29, 2026
They were fragments of the same vase, but the destruction of all five meant that every vase was flawed.
From "A Single Shard" by Linda Sue Park
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
