fallibility

noun

fal·​li·​bil·​i·​ty ˌfa-lə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

: liability to err

Did you know?

You'll find this word showing up in discussions of eyewitness testimony at crime scenes, of lie detectors, and of critical airplane parts. Some of us are most familiar with the fallibility of memory, especially when we remember something clearly that turns out never to have happened. Being fallible is part of being human, and sometimes the biggest errors are made by those who are thought of as the most brilliant of all.

Examples of fallibility in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Sport, in a world of artificial intelligence and synthetics, is also very human, in all its brilliance and fallibility. —Kamal Ahmed, Fortune, 8 June 2026

Unlike some politicians who have been rejected by voters for their past indiscretions, or gotten reelected despite them, Platner has apologized and shown promising awareness of his own human fallibility. —Shannon A. Mullen, The Atlantic, 4 June 2026

Who doesn’t want a better understanding of the fallibility of the people who brought you up? —K.j. Yossman, Variety, 3 June 2026

Finding moments of laughter with fallibility seems to just work. —Bylaurie Shakur, Forbes.com, 20 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1608, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for fallibility

• affability
• audibility
• bistability
• capability
• changeability
• contractility
• credibility
• culpability
• disability
• disutility
• durability
• feasibility