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
Pope dropped clangers earlier in the season and weak concessions against Manchester City and Qarabag preceded Everton.
—
Chris Waugh, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026
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
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
Chris Waugh, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026
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
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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Kreider made no mistake hammering the puck past Hart from the low slot.—
Andrew Knoll,
Oc Register,
9 May 2026
-
That will also be a huge difference from the Orbán regime, when there was no responsibility or consequences of any crime, any political mistake.—
Andrew Marantz,
New Yorker,
9 May 2026
Noun
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In a recent tactical blunder, the first lady’s farcical rollout of a teacher robot made unusually clear what this administration really thinks of children, teachers and schools.—
Randi Weingarten,
Fortune,
6 May 2026
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Although the mom of four appeared to spend the rest of her night faux pas-free, she's had to handle sartorial blunders before.—
Michelle Lee,
PEOPLE,
6 May 2026
Noun
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Mayer advanced to third on a subsequent error by Walls trying to flip the ball to second base, which scored Yoshida, and came home himself on Caleb Durbin’s RBI single, tying the game at 3-3.—
Mac Cerullo,
Boston Herald,
8 May 2026
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He was found dead by suicide in his jail cell that August — the result of what federal investigators concluded in 2023 was a cascade of misconduct, negligence and errors by staff at the Metropolitan Correctional Center.—
Tom Winter,
NBC news,
7 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Clanger.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clanger. Accessed 11 May. 2026.
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