fallible
adjective
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“Humanum est errare” is a Latin expression that translates as “To err is human.” Of course, cynics might say that it is also human to deceive. The history of the word fallible simultaneously recognizes both of these character flaws. In modern usage, fallible refers to one’s ability to make mistakes, but it descends from the Latin verb fallere, which means “to deceive.” Fallible has been used to describe the potential for error since at least the 15th century. Other descendants of fallere in English, all of which actually predate fallible, include fallacy (the earliest, now obsolete, meaning was “guile, trickery”), fault, false, and even fjail. Whoops, we mean fail.
Examples of fallible in a Sentence
Nizan Geslevich Packin, Forbes, 16 Sep. 2024
More than a hundred works, mainly from the permanent collection, depict strange, sacred, fallible flesh, with special attention paid to the ways in which bodies are sorted by race and gender.
—The New Yorker, 16 Aug. 2024
Ultimately blame must fall on those fallible humans in the board room.
—Geoff Colvin, Fortune, 10 Aug. 2024
Their entire material well-being is tied to one fallible man.
—Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 25 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for fallible 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fallible.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Fallible.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fallible. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.
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fallible
adjective
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