fallible
adjective
Did you know?
“Humanum est errare” is a Latin expression that translates as “To err is human.” Of course, cynics might say that it is also human to deceive. The history of the word fallible simultaneously recognizes both of these character flaws. In modern usage, fallible refers to one’s ability to make mistakes, but it descends from the Latin verb fallere, which means “to deceive.” Fallible has been used to describe the potential for error since at least the 15th century. Other descendants of fallere in English, all of which actually predate fallible, include fallacy (the earliest, now obsolete, meaning was “guile, trickery”), fault, false, and even fjail. Whoops, we mean fail.
Examples of fallible in a Sentence
Karl Ove Knausgaard, New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2025
Your throat and tongue and ears, and of course language itself, are of the physical world—unpredictable, fallible, and beautiful for it.
—Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 16 Oct. 2025
As drawn here, the characters are an entirely plausible, fallible mix of peevishness, self-interest and self-sacrifice, especially the parents who learn the most about themselves and each other when push finally comes to shove.
—Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 25 Sep. 2025
CEOs, like anyone else, are human and fallible.
—Julian Hayes Ii, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fallible
Cite this Entry
“Fallible.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fallible. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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fallible
adjective
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