err
to go astray in thought or belief; be mistaken; be incorrect.
to go astray morally; sin: To err is human.
Archaic. to deviate from the true course, aim, or purpose.
Idioms about err
err on the side of caution. See entry at err on the side of caution.
Origin of err
1Other words for err
Other words from err
- err·a·bil·i·ty [er-uh-bil-i-tee, ur-] /ˌɛr əˈbɪl ɪ ti, ˌɜr-/ noun
- err·a·ble, adjective
Words that may be confused with err
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use err in a sentence
In two cases, federal judges noted that in approving the Paycheck Protection Program, Congress specified that the loans be available to “any business” and that the administration erred in ruling out some industries.
Debt collectors, payday lenders collected over $500 million in federal pandemic relief | Peter Whoriskey, Joel Jacobs, Aaron Gregg | January 15, 2021 | Washington PostIf nothing else, this suggests you can err on the side of caution in backing off your strength routine fairly early.
When to Stop Strength Training Before a Big Race | Alex Hutchinson | January 13, 2021 | Outside OnlineToday’s motorcycle industry has again erred in the direction of excess, so there’s some symmetry in Honda returning to its roots with the Trail 125, which costs just $3,899 and weighs only 259 pounds.
If the Soviets had erred, she said, they had done so in not exhibiting the works earlier.
Irina Antonova, grande dame of Russian cultural life, dies at 98 | Emily Langer | December 4, 2020 | Washington PostIn the meantime, quantum computers have a tendency to err, and accounting for and correcting those errors is the industry’s top priority.
Yet despite a lifetime of clinical work, he actually errs on the side of literature.
Psychoanalysis as Literature: Stephen Grosz’s ‘The Examined Life’ | Lucy Scholes | June 5, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTOne night she somehow errs in every one: all 1,500 holes are wrong.
How Millie Werber Survived the Holocaust: ‘Two Rings: A Story of Love and War’ | Eve Keller | April 4, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTMurray also errs in reducing educational attainment and professional success solely to genetic endowment.
Charles Murray’s ‘Coming Apart’ and the Culture Myth | Ralph Richard Banks | February 8, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTKaplan errs in not taking Sinatra, the actor, seriously enough.
I adopt, unreservedly, the doctrine that "nothing is that errs from law."
The Contemporary Review, January 1883 | VariousA minnow always errs when he undertakes to swim in the company of a whale.
Daisy Ashford: Her Book | Daisy AshfordSo far from being deficient in melodious effectiveness, Wagner's writing for the voice, I would hold, errs upon the other side.
Aspects of Modern Opera | Lawrence GilmanOne young Englishman whom I have met lately errs on the side of over-appreciation.
Penelope's English Experiences | Kate Douglas WigginBut let him show the tenderness which is due to a great man even when he errs.
The Posthumous Works of Thomas De Quincey, Vol. 1 (2 vols) | Thomas De Quincey
British Dictionary definitions for err
/ (ɜː) /
to make a mistake; be incorrect
to stray from the right course or accepted standards; sin
to act with bias, esp favourable bias: to err on the side of justice
Origin of err
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse