infallibility

American  

[in-fal-uh-bil-i-tee] / ɪnˌfæl əˈbɪl ɪ ti /

noun

1. Sometimes infallibleness the quality of being infallible, or of being absolutely trustworthy.

   He believed in the infallibility of his leadership.

2. Roman Catholic Church. immunity from fallacy or liability to error in expounding matters of faith or morals by virtue of the promise made by Christ to the Church.

   papal infallibility.

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Other Word Forms

• noninfallibility noun
• noninfallibleness noun

Etymology

Origin of infallibility

infallible + -ity

Compare meaning

How does infallibility compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• inerrancy vs. infallibility

Explanation

If you don't make mistakes and you're never wrong, you can claim infallibility. (You're going to have to own up to self-deception, too, because, well, humans make mistakes.) If you're convinced of the infallibility of your sense of direction, you won't worry at all when you're deep in the dark woods at night and your flashlight dies. Maybe you’ll get out of the woods, but human infallibility usually doesn’t last. You may buy into your economics professor's image of infallibility until he comes to class with mismatched socks and toothpaste on his forehead. Infallibility comes from the Latin fallere, "deceive," and with infallibility, you can't be deceived.

Example Sentences

All too often, the justice’s belief in his own infallibility leads him to treat good-faith disagreement with dismissive arrogance.

From Slate • Jun. 23, 2025

To his credit, when he was stripped last year of his cloak of infallibility, he looked in the mirror.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 10, 2023

Küng, who brought Ratzinger to Tübingen, would later be barred from teaching by his former colleague, after he rejected papal infallibility.

From BBC • Dec. 31, 2022

"I think the more we talk about this, the more people will doubt his honesty, his infallibility, and the less support he will have."

From Reuters • Dec. 23, 2022

Repeating its cause, what could have been done to prevent the misery from taking hold, and M’Dear’s infallibility.

From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison