fallibility

noun

fal·​li·​bil·​i·​ty ˌfa-lə-ˈbi-lə-tē How to pronounce fallibility (audio)
: 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 Clara’s motives presumably stem from a troubled home life, and indeed the play, adapted for the stage by David Farr from the film by Thomas Vinterberg and Tobias Lindholm, is concerned with the fallibility of domestic order. Naveen Kumar, Washington Post, 8 Mar. 2024 When asking another person a question, a certain level of fallibility is accepted. Jeff Wong, Forbes, 15 Feb. 2024 So began one of the most inscrutable decisions in Olympics history as the gold went to Devitt, setting off years of protests and appeals by U.S. swimming officials and helping accelerate the introduction of electronic timing to remove the potential variables of human fallibility. Brian Murphy, Washington Post, 25 Jan. 2024 This fallibility can potentially affect the results of experiments. Luke Caldwell, Scientific American, 16 Jan. 2024 Penned by Alex Garland, Sunshine transcends its sensational premise by grappling with how the vastness of space exposes the fallibility of man, forcing him to reckon with the prospect of an all-knowing creator. Randall Colburn, EW.com, 9 Nov. 2023 The public-health officials are getting around to admitting the fallibility of public-health officials. Rich Lowry, National Review, 29 Dec. 2023 Every Thanksgiving feast has room for improvement—owning up to this fallibility is the first step in overcoming it. Li Goldstein, Bon Appétit, 18 Nov. 2023 The logical premise here is not the precedent of human savvy but an analogy to human fallibility. Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 30 Nov. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fallibility.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1608, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of fallibility was in 1608

Dictionary Entries Near fallibility

Cite this Entry

“Fallibility.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fallibility. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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