faulty

English

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈfɔːlti/, X-SAMPA: /"fO:lti/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Etymology

fault +‎ -y

Adjective

faulty (comparative faultier, superlative faultiest)

1. Having or displaying faults; not perfect; not adequate or acceptable.

   They replaced the faulty wiring and it has worked fine ever since.

   I don't think you can infer that from the premise. It's a faulty argument.

2. (obsolete) At fault, to blame; guilty.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.iv:

     Her faultie Handmayd, which that bale did breede, / Confest, how Philemon her wrought to chaunge her weede.

Usage notes

• Nouns to which "faulty" is often applied: goods, equipment, product, wiring, construction, memory, thinking, design, hardware, software, unit, part, component, assumption, reasoning, premise, gene, operation, technique, merchandise, circuit, code, analysis, posture, machine, method, habit, process, communication.

Antonyms

• faultless

Derived terms

• faultiness

Translations

having or displaying faults; not perfect; not adequate or acceptable

• Bulgarian: погрешен (bg) (pogrešen), неправилен (bg) (nepravilen)
• Czech: vadný (cs)
• Dutch: kapot (nl), gebrekkig (nl)
• German: fehlerhaft (de)

• Irish: fabhtach (ga)
• Italian: difettoso (it), imperfetto (it), scorretto (it)
• Spanish: defectuoso (es) m, imperfecto (es) m