as in mistake
an unintentional departure from truth or accuracy
a newsreader who memorably dropped a clanger when she referred to Robert Burns as an English poet
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Recent Examples of clanger
In its two most recent games, its goalkeeper, André Onana, has made calamitous clangers, leading to easy goals for the opposition.
—
Alex Tabet, NBC News, 15 Dec. 2024
Another game against Chelsea and another clanger for Lloris - this time during the Lilywhites tenure at Wembley.
—SI.com, 30 Sep. 2019
For years the clanger has dangled in the middle, banging against the bell’s iron walls for two states to hear, back and forth from Indiana to Ohio to Indiana to Ohio …
WHERE’S GREGG?
—Gregg Doyel, Indianapolis Star, 3 July 2019
The veined wing of the clanger cicada kills bacteria solely through its physical structure — one of the first natural surfaces found to do so.
—Trevor Quirk, Scientific American, 5 Mar. 2013
Alex Tabet, NBC News, 15 Dec. 2024
Another game against Chelsea and another clanger for Lloris - this time during the Lilywhites tenure at Wembley.
—SI.com, 30 Sep. 2019
For years the clanger has dangled in the middle, banging against the bell’s iron walls for two states to hear, back and forth from Indiana to Ohio to Indiana to Ohio …
WHERE’S GREGG?
—Gregg Doyel, Indianapolis Star, 3 July 2019
The veined wing of the clanger cicada kills bacteria solely through its physical structure — one of the first natural surfaces found to do so.
—Trevor Quirk, Scientific American, 5 Mar. 2013
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clanger
Noun
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And Apple has no plans to release Veritas as a standalone consumer app, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who calls this a mistake, and is calling for Apple to release the AI chatbot as a standalone app.—
Alexei Oreskovic,
Fortune,
29 Sep. 2025
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But even his mistakes were committed in his desire to protect the integrity of the institution he’d been appointed to lead.—
Billy Ray,
Deadline,
29 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The harsh taste of a blunder at Bethpage Black.—
Brendan Quinn,
New York Times,
29 Sep. 2025
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Again, special teams blunders set the defense up in poor position, but the defense ultimately coughed up big gains on the ground.—
Mike Kaye
September 28,
Charlotte Observer,
28 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Vehicles included in this recall may have an error in the instrument panel software at startup, failing to show speed, brake system information, and tire pressure warning lights.—
Olivia Evans,
Louisville Courier Journal,
3 Oct. 2025
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Yes, plenty of errors were made — six of them by shortstop Trevor Story in September alone — but errors are different from gaffes.—
Steve Buckley,
New York Times,
2 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Clanger.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clanger. Accessed 5 Oct. 2025.
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