as in imperfect
capable of making mistakes or being wrong
She was a perfectionist who failed to realize that humans are inherently fallible.
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Recent Examples of fallible
What’s important in any game, and more so in the playoffs, is not to give them an opportunity to be fallible.
—
Arpon Basu,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
Republican leaders have criticized the surplus mechanism for funding the endowment as a fallible gimmick.
—
Laura Tillman,
Hartford Courant,
9 Apr. 2026
Rather than operating on hearsay or memory, both of which are highly fallible, a flowchart outlines precisely what each section of a team is doing and allows everyone to work together in greater synchrony.
—
William Jones,
USA Today,
30 Mar. 2026
As written by Kelley (in his first non-crime drama in over a decade), Fanning’s titular lead is smart but fallible.
—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
12 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fallible
Arpon Basu,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
Republican leaders have criticized the surplus mechanism for funding the endowment as a fallible gimmick.
—
Laura Tillman,
Hartford Courant,
9 Apr. 2026
Rather than operating on hearsay or memory, both of which are highly fallible, a flowchart outlines precisely what each section of a team is doing and allows everyone to work together in greater synchrony.
—
William Jones,
USA Today,
30 Mar. 2026
As written by Kelley (in his first non-crime drama in over a decade), Fanning’s titular lead is smart but fallible.
—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
12 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fallible
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fallible
Adjective
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Our relationship was complicated, deep, imperfect—and profoundly formative.
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The technology is asking you to be a competent conversation partner with a highly intelligent but imperfect entity.
Adjective
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The cause was not a cyberattack but a flawed software update, and that is precisely the point.
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But this Administration is not interested in making a flawed system work better.
Adjective
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The rash was much milder in mice bred with defective itch-sensing nerve cells.
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The plaintiffs have also accused Bayer of negligence and misrepresentation of Roundup's safety in its marketing, and have alleged that the product was defective for its intended purpose.
Cite this Entry
“Fallible.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fallible. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.
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