lapse
Americannoun
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an accidental or temporary decline or deviation from an expected or accepted condition or state; a temporary falling or slipping from a previous standard.
a lapse of justice.
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a slip or error, often of a trivial sort; failure.
a lapse of memory.
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an interval or passage of time; elapsed period.
a lapse of ten minutes before the program resumed.
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a moral fall, as from rectitude or virtue.
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a fall or decline to a lower grade, condition, or degree; descent; regression.
a lapse into savagery.
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the act of falling, slipping, sliding, etc., slowly or by degrees.
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a falling into disuse.
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Insurance. discontinuance of coverage resulting from nonpayment of a premium; termination of a policy.
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Law. the termination of a right or privilege through neglect to exercise it or through failure of some contingency.
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Meteorology. lapse rate.
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Archaic. a gentle, downward flow, as of water.
verb (used without object)
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to fall or deviate from a previous standard; fail to maintain a normative level.
Toward the end of the book the author lapsed into bad prose.
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to come to an end; stop.
We let our subscription to that magazine lapse.
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to fall, slip, or sink; subside.
to lapse into silence.
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to fall into disuse.
The custom lapsed after a period of time.
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to deviate or abandon principles, beliefs, etc..
to lapse into heresy.
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to fall spiritually, as an apostate.
to lapse from grace.
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to pass away, as time; elapse.
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Law. to become void, as a legacy to someone who dies before the testator.
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to cease being in force; terminate.
Your insurance policy will lapse after 30 days.
noun
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a drop in standard of an isolated or temporary nature
a lapse of justice
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a break in occurrence, usage, etc
a lapse of five weeks between letters
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a gradual decline or a drop to a lower degree, condition, or state
a lapse from high office
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a moral fall
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law the termination of some right, interest, or privilege, as by neglecting to exercise it or through failure of some contingency
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insurance the termination of coverage following a failure to pay the premiums
verb
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to drop in standard or fail to maintain a norm
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to decline gradually or fall in status, condition, etc
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to be discontinued, esp through negligence or other failure
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(usually foll by into) to drift or slide (into a condition)
to lapse into sleep
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(often foll by from) to turn away (from beliefs or norms)
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law (of a devise or bequest) to become void, as on the beneficiary's predeceasing the testator
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(of time) to slip away
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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lapsesimple
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lapsessimple
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have lapsedperfect
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has lapsedperfect
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am lapsingprogressive
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are lapsingprogressive
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is lapsingprogressive
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have been lapsingperfect progressive
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has been lapsingperfect progressive
Past
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lapsedsimple
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had lapsedperfect
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was lapsingprogressive
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were lapsingprogressive
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had been lapsingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of lapse
1520–30; < Latin lāpsus an error, slipping, failing, equivalent to lāb ( ī ) to slide, slip, fall, make a mistake + -sus, for -tus suffix of v. action
Explanation
A lapse is a temporary slip, failure or break in continuity. If you’re normally polite, a lapse in manners could make you forget to say “please” and “thank you.” First used to imply a “slip of the memory,” the noun lapse evolved in the sixteenth century from the Latin lapsus, meaning “a slipping and falling, falling into error.” The connotation of “a moral slip” developed later, and the verb form came into existence even later than that. Behaving badly one day when you're usually on your best behavior is a lapse; behaving badly again after a short stint being well-mannered means you're lapsing back into nasty old habits.
Vocabulary lists containing lapse
The SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 1
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List 4
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"The Landlady" by Roald Dahl
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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.
See Examples For:
“This was not impulsive conduct or a momentary lapse in judgment,” prosecutors said in a sentencing memo.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
"For a period during the investigation into David Griffiths, there was lapse in communication with one of the victims and a written apology was issued," a spokeswoman said.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
Kroencke, a medic, approached the woman and attempted to soothe her, concerned that she might lapse into shock.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
That is spurring debate about the merits of the century-old Jones Act, which is likely to intensify ahead of Aug. 15, when Trump’s 150-day suspension is set to lapse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
It was unfair, Zeitoun thought, how one lapse in eleven years could give his wife enough ammunition to needle him for the rest of his life.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
The loopholes have been glaring at the Ram temple, with the accused reportedly taking advantage of weak counting processes and surveillance lapses.
From Barron's ● Jul. 19, 2026
Shohei Ohtani hits his 300th homer, Justin Wrobleski pitches seven strong innings, but defensive lapses lead to Dodgers’ loss to Rockies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
Contemporary nations like Iran, Armenia, and Egypt can lay claim to being built on very old civilizations, but you could point out discontinuities and lapses in sovereignty in their histories that complicate the argument.
From Slate ● Jul. 4, 2026
McConnell, for example, has a history of public episodes — freezing mid-sentence, apparent cognitive lapses — that the press reports on in the moment and then allows to fade into the background.
From Salon ● Jul. 2, 2026
To be sure, the language, to say nothing of all this solid globe, will survive such lapses.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
The SK affiliate managing the company headquarters accused Roh’s art center of illegally occupying the space in 2023, citing a lapsed rental contract.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
The life insurance company likely has no obligation to pay a lapsed policy.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
A rule intended to prevent rent gouging in the wake of the Eaton and Palisades fires has lapsed in Los Angeles County, possibly exposing some renters to hikes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026
Interviewed on a Zambian YouTube news channel on Wednesday evening, Lungu family spokesman Makebi Zulu disputed that the appeals process had lapsed saying that the correct procedure had been followed.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2026
It had started over dinner, and by the time he’d gone to bed his parents had lapsed into a stony, stubborn silence.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
This hasn’t survived two centuries of bloody revolution, lapsing religious faith and the catastrophic first half of the 20th century.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
However, this protection comes with limited upside given that it does not eliminate the risk of either poor long-term performance or the policy lapsing.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 1, 2026
I can’t eat pork or shellfish, so whatever falls within the electric fence, my lapsing Judaism.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2025
“Jerry was taking medication for his heart, his memory was lapsing, he could barely move,” said Jean-Pierre Frohlich, who assisted Robbins during the process.
From New York Times ● May 6, 2023
I guessed I'd resolved the soul and sin thing by lapsing from my heavy-duty Catholic background, giving up my immortal soul for a blues kind of soul.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
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.
