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

Confidence in a conviction can coexist with appropriate ambivalence about the process and their own fallibility. —Sonali Chakravarti, The Conversation, 5 May 2026

And right now, American audiences can’t get enough of that fallibility. —Dan Bilefsky, HollywoodReporter, 21 Mar. 2026

But in his first appearances on Olympic ice, Malinin showed some fallibility and faltered in the short program of the team event, finishing behind Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama. —Alice Park, Time, 14 Feb. 2026

Thiaw’s night to forget After delivering 26 borderline-imperious appearances for Newcastle, finally Thiaw showed genuine fallibility. —Chris Waugh, New York Times, 7 Jan. 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