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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.

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

An error message would prevent her from being able to log onto the system.

From BBC • Aug. 12, 2024

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