error message

British

noun

a message displayed on a visual display unit, printout, etc, indicating that an incorrect instruction has been given to the computer

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

Parts of the its website and those of its brands were showing an error message on Wednesday afternoon, with the company warning the cyber-attack could delay product deliveries.

From BBC • Apr. 1, 2026

Posting the link on Facebook now triggers an error message saying: “Posts that look like spam according to our Community Guidelines are blocked on Facebook and can’t be edited.”

From Slate • Jan. 28, 2026

Then, she got an error message notifying her that her answer wasn’t saved.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 28, 2025

A Salon search for usaid.gov on the same day resulted in a “can’t find server” error message.

From Salon • Feb. 4, 2025

There was a flashing error message, and he tapped it repeatedly to no effect.

From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023