Advertisement

Advertisement

View synonyms for err

err

[ er, ur ]

verb (used without object)

  1. to go astray in thought or belief; be mistaken; be incorrect.
  2. to go astray morally; sin:

    To err is human.

    Synonyms: lapse, transgress

  3. Archaic. to deviate from the true course, aim, or purpose.


err

/ ɜː /

verb

  1. to make a mistake; be incorrect
  2. to stray from the right course or accepted standards; sin
  3. to act with bias, esp favourable bias

    to err on the side of justice

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


Discover More

Other Words From

  • err·a·bil·i·ty [er-, uh, -, bil, -i-tee, ur-] noun
  • err·a·ble adjective
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of err1

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English erren, from Old French errer, from Latin errāre “to make a mistake; wander”; akin to Gothic airzjan, Old High German irrôn ( German irren )
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of err1

C14: erren to wander, stray, from Old French errer, from Latin errāre
Discover More

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. err on the side of caution. err on the side of caution.
Discover More

Example Sentences

No one likes it when their sandcastle is knocked over, but his reaction is a bit, err, extreme.

They tend to err heavily on the side of the government where kidnapping is concerned.

The bottom line is agencies almost always err on the side of caution.

In other words, the vast majority of Americans seem to agree with the American Mullahs, err, “hard-liners.”

Err, yes, of course Newt Gingrich loved the number of debates.

And they that call this people blessed, shall cause them to err: and they that are called blessed, shall be thrown down, headlong.

Why hast thou made us to err, O Lord, from thy ways: why hast thou hardened our heart, that we should not fear thee?

Whatever his own personal blunders, it was impossible for Joseph Addison to err in a point of literary judgment.

Is not your style so simple, frank, and direct that a wayfaring girl can read it and not err therein?

It is under the abiding influence of the Holy Ghost, and therefore cannot err in matters of faith.

Advertisement

Related Words

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.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


erotomaniaerrancy