flaw
1 Americannoun
-
a feature that mars the perfection of something; defect; fault.
beauty without flaw; the flaws in our plan.
- Synonyms:
- spot, blot, imperfection
-
a defect impairing legal soundness or validity.
-
a crack, break, breach, or rent.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
-
Also called windflaw. a sudden, usually brief windstorm or gust of wind.
-
a short spell of rough weather.
-
Obsolete. a burst of feeling, fury, etc.
noun
-
an imperfection, defect, or blemish
-
a crack, breach, or rift
-
law an invalidating fault or defect in a document or proceeding
verb
noun
-
-
a sudden short gust of wind; squall
-
a spell of bad, esp windy, weather
-
-
obsolete an outburst of strong feeling
Synonym Usage
See defect.
Other Word Forms
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.”
Vocabulary lists containing flaw
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
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"The Tragedy of Macbeth," Vocabulary from Act 3
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Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 5
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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.
A botched escape or a wrong turn in a storm is the result of a miscalculated risk, not a character flaw.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
A person familiar with the matter said the issue stemmed from a security flaw in DebugBear, a performance-monitoring vendor used by Polymarket.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
Laura: Although replacing a CEO can be extremely disruptive and unsettling, I don’t think it should necessarily be seen as the result of a hiring flaw.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
AI could make such attacks easier and faster, Spain said, estimating that the flaw could affect "millions and millions" of websites.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
Even as I think this the world’s sun dims between clouds regathering, and soon a flaw of rain runs sparse and hard upriver, spattering the crowds on the Embankment, darkening the sky.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
