fallible

English

Etymology

From Middle English fallible, from Medieval Latin fallibilis (“liable to err, also deceitful”), from Latin fallere (“to deceive”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈfal.ɪ.bəl/, [ˈfal.ɪ.bl̩]

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

  • Audio (GB):

    (file)

• (US, Canada, General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈfæl.ə.bəl/, [ˈfæl.ə.bl̩]

Adjective

fallible (comparative more fallible, superlative most fallible)

1. Capable of making mistakes or being wrong.

   prove fallible

   recognize as fallible

   Even the best doctors are fallible.

   He admitted he was fallible like anyone else.

2. Capable of failure.

Synonyms

• defective
• faulty
• faultful
• imperfect

Antonyms

• perfect
• infallible

Derived terms

• fallibleness
• fallibly
• nonfallible
• unfallible

Related terms

• fail
• fallacious
• fallacy
• fallibilism
• fallibilist
• fallibility

Translations

capable of making mistakes or being wrong

• Belarusian: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: склонен да греши (sklonen da greši)
• Catalan: fal·lible (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 殘缺的 / 残缺的 (zh) (cánquē de)

• Czech: omylný m
• Finnish: erehtyväinen (fi)
• French: faillible (fr)
• Galician: falible (gl), falíbel (gl)
• German: fehlbar (de)
• Italian: fallibile
• Kyrgyz: жаңылышкан (ky) (jaŋılışkan)
• Plautdietsch: fälboa
• Polish: omylny m
• Portuguese: falível (pt)
• Russian: подверженный ошибкам (podveržennyj ošibkam), (somewhat) ненадёжный (ru) (nenadjóžnyj), (technology) подверженный отказам (podveržennyj otkazam), (somewhat) оши́бочный (ru) (ošíbočnyj)
• Spanish: falible (es)

Further reading

• “fallible”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “fallible”, in The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “fallible”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• fillable