fallible
Americanadjective
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(of persons) liable to err, especially in being deceived or mistaken.
-
liable to be erroneous or false; not accurate.
fallible information.
adjective
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capable of being mistaken; erring
-
liable to mislead
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fallible
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Medieval Latin fallibilis, equivalent to Latin fall(ī) (passive of fallere “to deceive”) + -ibilis -ible
Explanation
As humans we are all fallible, because fallible means likely to make errors or fail. Nobody's perfect, after all. Fall down on the job and you're fallible. It's a forgiving way to say you screwed up. If a scientific experiment's data is fallible, that means you can't trust the numbers. More than just locking your keys in the car, fallible can allude to a lack of moral strength. If in addition to locking your keys in the car, you kissed your best friend's husband, you might try using "I'm fallible" as your defense.
Vocabulary lists containing fallible
100 SAT Words Beginning with "F"
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A Wrinkle in Time
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They Called Us Enemy
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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.
Humans are fallible, and few if any of us can claim to have “always” been truthful in life, so it may seem odd that Mr. Altman was pressed on this point.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
Clemency used to be a consistent failsafe for an often fallible system.
From Slate ● Mar. 6, 2026
So long as human bodies are fallible to disease, we will need labs studying viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites to see which ones could cause major problems.
From Salon ● Feb. 28, 2026
Yes, United showed Arsenal are fallible and the best defence in the Premier League can make mistakes and give you chances.
From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2026
But Ulbrickson knew that, in the end, it wasn’t gods but young men who had to win crew races, and, unlike gods, young men were fallible.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
