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

See Examples For:

false step

Rather, 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

That left hand is all over the place, dancing across the entire lower registry of the instrument, perfectly in time and never making a false step.

From Slate ● Jun. 7, 2019

One false step, and he could slip right between the ties to the river.

From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli