infallibility

American  

[in-fal-uh-bil-i-tee] / ɪnˌfæl əˈbɪl ɪ ti /

noun

1. Sometimes infallibleness the quality of being infallible, or of being absolutely trustworthy.

   He believed in the infallibility of his leadership.

2. Roman Catholic Church. immunity from fallacy or liability to error in expounding matters of faith or morals by virtue of the promise made by Christ to the Church.

   papal infallibility.

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Other Word Forms

• noninfallibility
  noun
• noninfallibleness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of infallibility

infallible + -ity

Compare meaning

How does infallibility compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• inerrancy vs. infallibility

Explanation

If you don't make mistakes and you're never wrong, you can claim infallibility. (You're going to have to own up to self-deception, too, because, well, humans make mistakes.) If you're convinced of the infallibility of your sense of direction, you won't worry at all when you're deep in the dark woods at night and your flashlight dies. Maybe you’ll get out of the woods, but human infallibility usually doesn’t last. You may buy into your economics professor's image of infallibility until he comes to class with mismatched socks and toothpaste on his forehead. Infallibility comes from the Latin fallere, "deceive," and with infallibility, you can't be deceived.

Example Sentences

Infallibility is a religious doctrine in the Roman Catholic faith; it is not a scientific principle and it is certainly not a defining characteristic of a professional epidemiologist or public health professional.

From Washington Post • Jun. 26, 2020

Infallibility is a characteristic, shared to a great degree, of the United States Supreme Court and the papacy.

From Washington Post • Mar. 7, 2013

Bishop Gore proposed a federation of churches with the Pope as First Bishop, but he balked at Papal Infallibility.

From Time Magazine Archive

Far more important than the loss of the Papal States were his dogmas of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary and of Papal Infallibility.

From Time Magazine Archive

It is a fact that Antonelli publicly declared there could be no difficulty about the promulgation of Papal Infallibility, because it was a doctrine already held by all good Catholics.

From Letters From Rome on the Council by D?llinger, Johann Joseph Ignaz von