flaw

¹ American  

[flaw] / flɔ /

noun

1. a feature that mars the perfection of something; defect; fault.

   beauty without flaw; the flaws in our plan.

   Synonyms:

   spot, blot, imperfection

2. a defect impairing legal soundness or validity.

3. a crack, break, breach, or rent.

   Synonyms:

   rift, fissure

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verb (used with object)

1. to produce a flaw in.

verb (used without object)

1. to contract a flaw; become cracked or defective.

flaw ² American  

[flaw] / flɔ /

noun

1. Also called windflaw.  a sudden, usually brief windstorm or gust of wind.

2. a short spell of rough weather.

3. Obsolete. a burst of feeling, fury, etc.

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flaw ¹ British  

/ flɔː /

noun

1. an imperfection, defect, or blemish

2. a crack, breach, or rift

3. law an invalidating fault or defect in a document or proceeding

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verb

1. to make or become blemished, defective, or imperfect

flaw ² British  

/ flɔː /

noun

1. 1. a sudden short gust of wind; squall

   2. a spell of bad, esp windy, weather

2. obsolete an outburst of strong feeling

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Synonym Usage

See defect.

Other Word Forms

• flawlessness
  noun
• flawless
  adjective
• flawy
  adjective
• flawlessly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of flaw¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English flage, flaw(e), perhaps from Old Norse flaga “sliver, flake”

Origin of flaw²

First recorded in 1475–85, flaw is from the Old Norse word flaga attack, squall

Explanation

A flaw can be a sign of weakness or defect. If you try to make wings and fly off the roof but wind up crashing in the gutter, there's a flaw in your plan. In the early 14th century, when the noun flaw was first recorded, it referred to a snowflake or spark of fire. That sense is now obsolete, and now we use flaw to describe shortcomings in either character or object. We all have flaws. It can also describe an intentional mark of imperfection. “You see,” said the dancer Martha Graham, “when weaving a blanket, an Indian woman leaves a flaw in the weaving of that blanket to let the soul out.”

Example Sentences

A new study has found a flaw in how people interpret the very headlines they are seeing.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 5, 2026

Fantastic as it is, “Working Girl’s” core flaw is that Tess can’t snag her seat at the conference table until she yanks Katharine out of it.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 29, 2026

“The fundamentals wouldn’t necessarily say there’s a significant issue here,” he said, adding that this is why the company views its capping mechanism as “a feature and not a flaw of the structure.”

From MarketWatch • Jun. 24, 2026

He said he was "shocked" by the "flaw in the model" of economic behavior he had long relied on.

From Barron's • Jun. 22, 2026

For all its undoubted sincerity, Oppenheimer’s letter displayed a brazen disingenuousness, perhaps its author’s chief character flaw.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

Related Words

• blemish
• bug
• defect
• failing
• fault
• foible
• glitch
• pitfall
• weakness