false step

American  

noun

1. a stumble.

2. an unwise or blundering act.

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false step British  

noun

1. an unwise action

2. a stumble; slip

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false step Idioms  

1. A stumble or blunder, as in Making a down payment without securing a mortgage was clearly a false step. This term transfers physical stumbling or tripping to other enterprises. [c. 1700]

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Example Sentences

It’s the poignant devastation of knowing one false step or bad decision could reshape your life that knocks us over.

From Salon • Apr. 13, 2025

Instead of jumping into his assignment right away, Rivera said, Davis could have baited the lineman with an intentionally false step, forced him to overcommit and used his athleticism to evade the block altogether.

From Washington Post • Dec. 14, 2022

But in his mind, he was just one false step from going right back to prison.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 18, 2019

The ending was probably drawn with best play but it was also complex enough to allow for maneuvering, and in severe time pressure Caruana made one false step and suddenly the game was over.

From Slate • Nov. 28, 2018

If you think about it hard enough, if you trace potential reverberations long enough, every step can be a false step, any move can lead to an unintended consequence.

From "Every Day" by David Levithan