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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Related Words

See defect.

Other Word Forms

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

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

Example Sentences

Whatever its flaws, the world has no alternative as a reserve currency.

From The Wall Street Journal

Last fall, a group of hackers discovered a security flaw in millions of the devices on Ipidea’s vast network of devices.

From The Wall Street Journal

TN: The Lakers, even with their defensive flaws, are already firmly in the playoff picture, although Phoenix could complicate matters by trying to butt into the top six.

From Los Angeles Times

The strategy by McVay was so flawed, it was actually criticized by Tom Brady on Fox, and Brady rarely criticizes anybody.

From Los Angeles Times

"What good is money and modern medicine if not to fix all of these flaws that this random... plastic surgeon told me I have?"

From BBC

Related Words

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