faulty
Americanadjective
-
faultier,
comparative
-
faultiest
superlative
adjective
-
defective or imperfect
-
archaic culpable
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of faulty
First recorded in 1300–50, faulty is from the Middle English word fauty. See fault, -y 1
Explanation
Something that's faulty is full of mistakes — it's wrong. Faulty logic often leads people to make terrible decisions, since they're based on an incorrect way of thinking. A faulty explanation is based on errors, and a faulty machine doesn't work the way it's supposed to. If your chocolate chip cookies keep coming out burned, your stove may be faulty — or you may be baking them too long. If your car's brakes are faulty, it won't stop as quickly as it should, and if your furnace is faulty, it will be a long, cold winter. Faulty and fail share a common Latin root word.
Vocabulary lists containing faulty
Fake It 'Til You Make It: Synonyms for "False"
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Drama
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Way Off: Synonyms for "Wrong"
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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.
See Examples For:
SpaceX on Monday launched Starship for the first time since July and, despite a faulty engine, managed to put the rocket in orbit for the first time as well.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026
The British Heart Foundation explains, external a cardiac arrhythmia ablation involves using heat or cold energy to create tiny scars in the heart to block faulty signals and restore a typical heartbeat.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
Each targets the same protein, called CD19, found on the surface of certain immune cells, in hopes of destroying the faulty cells driving the disease and giving the immune system a fresh start.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
Those faulty messages can produce shooting, stabbing or burning sensations.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026
I, an American writer, writing about America, was working from memory, and the memory is at best a faulty, warpy reservoir.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
Or they just don’t like finding out their memories are faultier than they thought.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 7, 2018
There is no commoner, and at the same time faultier, way of reasoning, than that of objecting to a philosophical hypothesis the injury it may do to morals and to religion.
From The Heavenly Father Lectures on Modern Atheism by Henry Downton
His next poem was "Annus Mirabilis," published in 1667, and counted justly one of his most vigorous, though also one of the faultiest of his poems.
From The Poetical Works of John Dryden, Volume 1 With Life, Critical Dissertation, and Explanatory Notes by John Dryden
Colburn's First Lessons, the only faultiest school book that we have, has made a great change in the mode of teaching Arithmetic, and is destined to make a still greater.
From Rollo in Holland by Jacob Abbott
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.
