fallible
[fal-uh-buh l]
- (of persons) liable to err, especially in being deceived or mistaken.
- liable to be erroneous or false; not accurate: fallible information.
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Origin of fallible
1375–1425; late Middle English < Medieval Latin fallibilis, equivalent to Latin fall(ī) (passive of fallere to deceive) + -ibilis -ible
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
faultyimperfectuntrustworthyfrailcarelessdeceptiveerranterringheedlesshumanignorantliablemortalquestionableuncertainunreliableweakExamples from the Web for fallible
Contemporary Examples
A wine consumption map of the U.S. is as fallible as that wine map of Europe.
In fairness, like glossies anywhere, French tabloids are fallible, prone to playing up alleged trysts that fall flat.
They reveal an altogether vulnerable, fallible person with ambition, passion, and doubt.
The masters of war, it turns out, are as fallible as the rest of us.
Nobody told the media to make a fallible person with a dubious electoral winning streak the “genius” behind the GOP.
Historical Examples
It may be fallible, often it is and, in our scheme of things, what is there that is not?
The Paliser caseEdgar Saltus
Hearing is one of the senses, and all the senses are fallible.
The Comedies of William CongreveWilliam Congreve
There may be much of what is fallible and human with what is truthful and divine.
The Wesleyan Methodist Pulpit in MalvernKnowles King
So that, if anxious as he who is human and fallible must ever be, I am nevertheless happy and contented.
AurelianWilliam Ware
All our knowledge, again, supposes memory which is fallible.
The Life of Sir James Fitzjames Stephen, Bart., K.C.S.I.Sir Leslie Stephen
fallible
- capable of being mistaken; erring
- liable to mislead
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Word Origin
C15: from Medieval Latin fallibilis, from Latin fallere to deceive
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for fallible
adj.
early 15c., from Medieval Latin fallibilis "liable to err, deceitful." literally "that can be deceived," from Latin fallere "deceive" (see fail).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper