fallible

[ fal-uh-buhl ]

adjective

1. (of persons) liable to err, especially in being deceived or mistaken.
2. liable to be erroneous or false; not accurate:

   fallible information.

fallible

/ ˈfælɪbəl /

adjective

1. capable of being mistaken; erring
2. liable to mislead

Derived Forms

• ˌfalliˈbility, noun
• ˈfallibly, adverb

Other Words From

• fal·li·bil·i·ty [fal-, uh, -, bil, -i-tee], fal·li·ble·ness noun
• fal·li·bly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of fallible¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Medieval Latin fallibilis, equivalent to Latin fall(ī) (passive of fallere “to deceive”) + -ibilis -ible

Word History and Origins

Origin of fallible¹

C15: from Medieval Latin fallibilis , from Latin fallere to deceive

Example Sentences

They are themselves impossible and wondrous, even if the people who deliver them to us are fallible and human and often fragile.

From Time

Kahneman and Tversky popularized the notion that decision makers rely on highly fallible mental shortcuts that can have dire consequences.

From Science News

In D&D terms, they’re a high-level party, basically gods within the world of the story but still fallible.

From Vox

West’s book shows the problems with appointing fallible human beings to offer succor to parishioners even as they battle their own demons — in Samuel’s case, irrepressible rage and hubris.

From Washington Post

We are fallible, and where we are in error, the only explanations for those beliefs will be debunking ones.

From Nautilus

A wine consumption map of the U.S. is as fallible as that wine map of Europe.

From The Daily Beast

And anyway, if Brecht did not want us to feel for Mother Courage, why did he make her so richly shaded and humanly fallible?

From The Daily Beast

In fairness, like glossies anywhere, French tabloids are fallible, prone to playing up alleged trysts that fall flat.

From The Daily Beast

They reveal an altogether vulnerable, fallible person with ambition, passion, and doubt.

From The Daily Beast

The masters of war, it turns out, are as fallible as the rest of us.

From The Daily Beast

I shall therefore, in my effort to prove the Bible fallible, quote almost wholly from Christian critics.

From Project Gutenberg

With individual operations controlled by fallible men enormous waste is inevitable.

From Project Gutenberg

But to assume that human laws are above question, is to claim for their fallible authors infallibility.

From Project Gutenberg

The first assumption puts our Savior on the basis of a fallible human teacher, and nothing more.

From Project Gutenberg

Most of the figures are therefore carried over from winter to winter in the memories of fallible men.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• faulty
• frail
• imperfect
• untrustworthy