false step

noun

1. a stumble.
2. an unwise or blundering act.

false step

noun

1. an unwise action
2. a stumble; slip

Idioms and Phrases

A stumble or blunder, as in Making a down payment without securing a mortgage was clearly a false step . This term transfers physical stumbling or tripping to other enterprises. [c. 1700]

Example Sentences

Gen. Edwin Meese, Michael Mukasey and William Barr, joined by prominent conservative professors, agree on the stakes: A false step by the court “would be ruinous for the Nation’s tradition of free and fair elections.”

From Los Angeles Times

Don’t make a false step of your own in this week’s Slate News Quiz.

From Slate

Instead of jumping into his assignment right away, Rivera said, Davis could have baited the lineman with an intentionally false step, forced him to overcommit and used his athleticism to evade the block altogether.

From Washington Post

Bill Belichick creates a culture of accountability and diligence and also can correct the right guard when he takes a false step on a trap block.

From Washington Post

Not everything works in the staging: When the action is this exposed, any false step is magnified.

From New York Times