PITFALLS Synonyms: 41 Similar and Opposite Words

pitfalls

noun

plural of pitfall

as in risks

a danger or difficulty that is hidden or not easily recognized buying a house can be full of pitfalls for the unwary

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in threats

something that may cause injury or harm one of the pitfalls of ignorance is that people will also assume you're stupid

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of pitfalls Voters overwhelmingly elected candidates who are critical of data-center development — one of many potential pitfalls Anthropic warned about in its IPO prospectus last month. — Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 6 Nov. 2026 To avoid such pitfalls, researchers want to devise tests of introspection that can’t be gamed using outside information. — Ben Brubaker, Quanta Magazine, 4 Nov. 2026 Lenat’s team was wary of the pitfalls of vesting their machine with human attributes. — Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2026 Beware of some early-shopping pitfalls To make sure that buying gifts long before the holidays occur is a wise move, early shoppers should read vendors’ fine print and research their return policies. — James Malm, The Conversation, 2 Nov. 2026 Amazon has already grappled with the pitfalls of encouraging AI use for its own sake. — Mia Osmonbekov, Fortune, 28 Oct. 2026 That doesn’t mean, however, that the show’s creator and stars have been able to avoid the same pitfalls as their characters. — Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 23 Oct. 2026 My parents were always a bit concerned about nightlife, drugs, all the pitfalls of what the nightlife could be. — Katie Bain, Billboard, 16 Oct. 2026 Later, when asked about pitfalls in his career, Goodman returned to the topic. — Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 16 Oct. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for pitfalls

Noun

OpenAI faces several lawsuits from state AGs and plaintiff attorneys, taking cues from the social media suits in alleging that the design of ChatGPT can pose risks to children.

— Jonathan Vanian, CNBC, 7 Nov. 2026
Democratic overreach risks pushing the pendulum in the other direction.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 7 Nov. 2026

Definition of risks

Noun

Federal district judges, even at the risk of physical threats, played a key role by throttling unconstitutional White House efforts to seize state voting records, curtail mail-in voting and manipulate the count in Alaska.

— James D. Zirin, Washington Post, 8 Nov. 2026
The rapid development of drones with their swarming tactics requires a whole new approach to firepower that can neutralize mass threats without emptying ammunition stockpiles and busting the bank.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 8 Nov. 2026

Definition of threats

Noun

Some games entirely errored out, some had hitches, and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite chips were targeting relatively low-end gaming to begin with.

— Sean Hollister, The Verge, 15 Oct. 2026
That type of physicality can come in handy on plays like quick hitches, screens, drags run over the middle of the field.

— Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 20 Sep. 2026

Definition of hitches

Noun

Also as is custom, adults will fret about the mostly mythical dangers children may face.

— Muizz Akhtar, Vox, 30 Oct. 2026
The killing underscores the dangers facing Mexican local leaders who challenge cartels, as President Claudia Sheinbaum faces pressure to confront organized crime and corruption.

— Megan Janetsky, Los Angeles Times, 30 Oct. 2026

Definition of dangers

Noun

New Denim had a tighter weave to resist snags and tears and was stronger and more durable than other denim, yet still pliable and comfortable.

— Angela Velasquez, Footwear News, 26 Oct. 2026
Efforts to move the games to larger area venues, such as Gas South Arena (around 13,000 seats) and Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavilion (8,600 seats), have hit snags, according to USA Today.

— Chuck Schilken, Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of snags

Noun

Cotality ranked states using a risk-scoring model that measures the severity and likelihood of extreme-weather perils.

— Mary Cunningham, CBS News, 4 Nov. 2026
Iñárritu and screen writer Guillermo Arriaga involve six families, most of them not known to one another, in four countries on three continents in their story of random fate and the perils of being unable to communicate.

— Ray Bennett, HollywoodReporter, 27 Oct. 2026

Definition of perils

Browse Nearby Words

pitfall

pitfalls

pith

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Pitfalls.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pitfalls. Accessed 11 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of pitfalls

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

valorous

Popular in Grammar & Usage

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Popular in Wordplay

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes