false step

noun

1. a stumble.

2. an unwise or blundering act.

false step

noun

1. an unwise action

2. a stumble; slip

Idioms and Phrases

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]

Example Sentences

Any false step would be immediately processed into a viral moment on right-wing airwaves.

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

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

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Gen. Edwin Meese, Michael Mukasey and William Barr, joined by prominent conservative professors, agree on the stakes: A false step by the court “would be ruinous for the Nation’s tradition of free and fair elections.”

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Don’t make a false step of your own in this week’s Slate News Quiz.

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