faulty

[fawl-tee]

adjective

faultier, faultiest 

1. having faults or defects; imperfect.

faulty

/ ˈfɔːltɪ /

adjective

1. defective or imperfect

2. archaic,  culpable

Other Word Forms

• faultily adverb
• faultiness noun
• nonfaulty adjective
• unfaulty adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of faulty¹

First recorded in 1300–50, faulty is from the Middle English word fauty. See fault, -y ¹

Example Sentences

Thousands of British military personnel have started legal action after being given ear protection they say was faulty and led to life-changing injuries such as tinnitus and deafness.

From BBC

Janet Skinner was wrongly convicted of false accounting in 2007 and sentenced to nine months in prison after the faulty software said £59,000 had gone missing from her branch account in Hull.

From BBC

He has the faulty gene that causes the disease, as did his dad, Fred, and his grandmother, Joyce.

From BBC

It was only last July that a global IT crash due to a faulty software update from cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike caused disruption to aviation, grounding flights across the US.

From BBC

The lawsuit filed Tuesday, and seen by the BBC, said faulty fuel switches caused the accident and accused the companies of doing "nothing" despite being aware of the risks of the aircraft's design.

From BBC

Related Words

• broken 
• cracked 
• damaged www.thesaurus.com
• defective 
• deficient 
• erroneous 
• false 
• flawed 
• imprecise 
• inaccurate 
• inadequate 
• incomplete 
• insufficient 
• invalid 
• leaky 
• malfunctioning www.thesaurus.com
• unreliable