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
EW.com, 8 Aug. 2025
Stewart already positioned himself as fallible, which made his earnestness more endearing.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 1 Aug. 2025
The Chinese star could only laugh a hole later when Scheffler, at last looking fallible after an underhit tee shot left him with an uphill battle to extend his run of 30 holes without bogey, rolled in from 16 feet.
—Jack Bantock, CNN Money, 20 July 2025
Indeed, in stark contrast to the incorporeal nature of a digital image, each of Winant’s photographs is, in a sense, a discrete body: a fallible material entity that boasts a hidden physical history and that will compositionally deteriorate over time.
—Jessica Simmons-Reid, Artforum, 1 June 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 22 Aug. 2025.
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fallible
adjective
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