faux pas
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of faux pas
First recorded in 1670–80; from French: literally, “false step”
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.
Steve Carell’s character in the likable, watchable and even lovable “Rooster” is classic Steve Carell: Self-aware, charming, boyish, incapable of reading a room, sidestepping a faux pas or calculating nuance.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026
"A different style and completely different colours," Andy chuckled - his wife Danni only spotted the faux pas when she got to the school gates.
From BBC • Jan. 30, 2026
Mr. Kerrigan’s faux pas could have been worse: He could have told his daughter that she was “one in a million”—which, in this country, means there are 347 others just like her.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 16, 2025
After Meredith makes a faux pas during a family dinner, asking Thad and Patrick marble-mouthed questions about the nature versus nurture debate, Sybil locks eyes with her son.
From Salon • Oct. 15, 2025
I felt extremely shy, wary of committing a faux pas, and unequipped to participate in the high-flown and rapid-fire conversations.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
