pratfall
Americannoun
-
a fall in which one lands on the buttocks, often regarded as comical or humiliating.
-
a humiliating blunder or defeat.
noun
Etymology
Origin of pratfall
Explanation
A pratfall is a mistake that is particularly embarrassing, like going to a job interview with stains on your shirt. It can also be a silly goof done on purpose to make people laugh, like slipping on a banana peel. A pratfall originally referred to a fall on your butt, which was often done by comic actors for laughs. From there, it came to mean all sorts of unplanned screw-ups. A restaurant caught serving horsemeat has committed a pratfall. A politician’s inappropriate joke is a verbal pratfall. A football player who runs the wrong way and scores for the other team has done a pratfall. Oops!
Vocabulary lists containing pratfall
The Nickel Boys
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Eragon
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Mr. Lemoncello's All-Star Breakout Game
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
He went on to suggest an improvement to one of Ms. Thompson’s lines and add a little pratfall at the end, and the set brightened with laughter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2025
Her legs splay, tilt and leap readily into pratfall action.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 16, 2024
This might be an exorcism of the time she broke her neck while doing a pratfall as Cinderella in the 2002 revival of “Into the Woods.”
From New York Times ● May 19, 2024
In a cultural landscape of darkly seriocomic prestige series like "Succession" and "The Bear," Rose Byrne is happy to just take a pratfall.
From Salon ● Jun. 23, 2023
As I was telling you, they had just lifted me from the floor, my performance and subsequent pratfall the sources of a great feeling of camaraderie.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
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.
