Definition of FALLIBLE

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Errare humanum est. That Latin expression translates into English as "To err is human." Of course, cynics might say that it is also human to deceive. The word fallible simultaneously recognizes both of these human character flaws. In modern usage, it refers to one's ability to err, 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 the deceptive fallere in English, all of which actually predate fallible, include fallacy (the earliest, now obsolete, meaning was "guile, trickery"), fault, false, and even fail and failure.

Examples of fallible in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Tennis doesn’t allow for such a result, but the most an uncommonly talented young woman can hope for is to play the fallible people who raised her to a tie. — Charles Mcnulty, latimes.com, "Review: Amanda Peet's 'Our Very Own Carlin McCullough': A tennis prodigy learns life's score," 29 June 2018 But Twitter also has administrators: a small group of real and fallible human beings. — Jessi Hempel, WIRED, "Immigration Fight Shows Silicon Valley Must Stop Feigning Neutrality," 8 July 2018 And because judicial protection of rights becomes less important, our reliance on fallible and often highly ideological judges becomes more limited, and a populist backlash against the judiciary becomes less likely, too. — Eric Posner And Glen Weyl, Vox, "The Supreme Court is an anti-democratic nightmare. Here’s how to fix it.," 29 June 2018 Humans, ever fallible, must practice humility, this logic goes; part of that practice must involve the recognition that even empathy must answer to a higher power. — Megan Garber, The Atlantic, "How to Look Away," 20 June 2018 The real test, assuming that all organizations are full of fallible people, especially in positions of authority and power, is the way those people in power deal with their inherent fallibility. — Matt Murray, WSJ, "The 10-Point.," 18 June 2018 One night, while driving home after dropping off a vintage car to tech prodigy Eron (Harrison Gilbertson), the technological utopia proves fallible — and fatal. — Katie Walsh, Detroit Free Press, "Review: ‘Upgrade’ raises timely fears about technology," 31 May 2018 The trouble is that companies are often poor at assessing nebulous risks, and CEOs’ overall view of the environment is fallible. — The Economist, "Why corporate America loves Donald Trump," 24 May 2018 Those worried about how facial recognition surveillance may impact their personal privacy may view these flaws as a potential advantage; a fallible system might be easier to hide from. — Lily Hay Newman, WIRED, "Facial Recognition Tech Is Creepy When It Works—And Creepier When It Doesn’t," 9 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fallible.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.