human error

American  

[hyoo-muhn er-er] / ˈhju mən ˈɛr ər /

noun

• human errors
  plural

1. a mistake made by a human worker or the propensity of humans to make such mistakes, as opposed to the failure of mechanical or electronic systems or devices.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• human-error
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• human errors
  plural

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

human error

What caused the collision was not immediately clear but experts said it was likely human error.

From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026

Sainsbury's head office contacted Arnold the following day to apologise, maintaining the incident had been caused by "human error" rather than software failure.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

Most often these are industrial accidents, some process going awry, whether by fizzled technology or human error.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026

“I like the challenge system because you still have the human error element to the game,” Smith said.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026

Although many people greeted the new forensic sciences with reverence, attributing to them a godlike power, they were often susceptible to human error.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann