fallible

C2+ Topic:Describing People

US /ˈfæləbəl/ UK /ˈfæləbəl/ See IPA manual

adj

Meanings

1

adj
capable of making mistakes or being wrong

Even the best judges are fallible human beings.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · capable of making mistakes... imperfect errant frail faulty weak mortal

Opposites

infallible perfect unerring faultless

Word family

Derived forms falliblyfallibilityfallibleness

Related forms fallacy fallacious fail

Etymology

From Medieval Latin 'fallibilis' ('liable to err'), from Latin 'fallere' ('to deceive, fail'), from Proto-Indo-European '*ǵʰwel-' ('to bend, deviate').

fallibilis Latin fallere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing People Word Formation & Derivatives

# fallible

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** ˈfæləbəl
**IPA (UK):** ˈfæləbəl

## Meanings
1. capable of making mistakes or being wrong

## Examples
- Even the best judges are fallible human beings.

## Synonyms
- imperfect
- errant
- frail
- faulty
- weak
- mortal

## Antonyms
- infallible
- perfect
- unerring
- faultless

## Derived Forms
- fallibly
- fallibility
- fallibleness

## Related Forms
- fallacy
- fallacious
- fail

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: fallibilis
- Root: fallere

## Etymology
From Medieval Latin 'fallibilis' ('liable to err'), from Latin 'fallere' ('to deceive, fail'), from Proto-Indo-European '*ǵʰwel-' ('to bend, deviate').

## AI Etymology
Fallible comes from Medieval Latin 'fallibilis' ('liable to err'), from Latin 'fallere' ('to deceive, fail'), from Proto-Indo-European '*ǵʰwel-' ('to bend, deviate'). The etymological trail includes Latin fallibilis and Latin fallere. As an adjective, fallible describes what is capable of making mistakes or being wrong. The same family is visible in derived forms such as fallibly, fallibility, and fallibleness and related forms such as fallacy, fallacious, and fail.

## Topics
- Describing People
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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