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pronounce FALLIBLE: Say it "FAL uh bull." To hear it, click here. connect this word to others: Like we noticed recently, when we studied the word fall____us ("untrue or unconvincing"), in Latin, fallere means "to make someone trip or fall"--or less literally, "to trick, to deceive, to fail, to disappoint, or to be defective." So you can see how the closely related word fallible literally means "able to be tricked, able to be deceived"--or less literally, "able to fail, able to fall, able to make a mistake." (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)     definition: The Latin word for "deceive" gave us our English word "fallible," which we've used for hundreds of years. It first meant "able to be deceived" and described people's senses (eyesight, hearing, etc.) as well as their reason and judgment. We still use that meaning today: "He has great judgment, but it's fallible--he's a man, after all, not a god." More generally, we use "fallible" to describe people (and things) that are capable of making a mistake, or capable of being wrong. grammatical bits: Part of speech: Adjective: "a fallible human;" "The method is good but fallible." Other forms:  Fallibly, fallibility. Infallible things and people are perfect, totally unable to make a mistake and totally unable to be wrong. The other forms are "infallibly" and "infallibility." how to use it: "Fallible" is a serious, formal, semi-common word. Pick it instead of "imperfect" or "deficient" when you want to emphasize how very normal, and very human, someone's mistakes are. Talk about how people are fallible, how our memories are fallible, how our tests and methods and technologies are fallible, etc. examples: "Though he's a kind of god, Morpheus is fallible, someone who evolves throughout the series and is revealed to readers piece by piece as he re-encounters figures from his past."    — Maya Phillips, New York Times, 4 August 2022 "Say Anything [shows] Mr Court humiliated and shaking in a bathtub as he faces incarceration. This is a movie that encourages empathy across the gender and generational dividing lines. After all, realising that your parents are fallible, needy and scared is the ultimate coming-of-age experience."    — Hadley Freeman, The Guardian, 28 April 2018 has this page helped you understand "fallible"? Awesome, I'm glad it helped! Thanks for letting me know! If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. study it: Explain the meaning of "fallible" without saying "imperfect" or "prone to error." try it out: To err is human! When Neil Armstrong misspoke as he stepped onto the moon, he tried to blame his mistake on the tape recorder, which he called "fallible." He was supposed to say "That's one small step for a man; one giant leap for mankind," but he accidentally left out the word "a." Whoops. It's a good example of how people are fallible, even amazingly accomplished people like Armstrong. See if you can give another example of a famous person revealing their fallibility. What was their mistake? If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.) before you review, play: Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out. Our game this month is Crossword Clues: Defining by Rhyming! Check out the given term, and try to complete the definition by supplying a missing rhyming word. For example, if I give you "bevy = _ _ _ _ herd," then you give me "bird," because a bevy is a bird herd. To peek at the answer, scroll all the way down. Enjoy! annus mirabilis = _ _ _ _ year review this word: 1. The precise opposite of FALLIBLE is INFALLIBLE. But a pretty close opposite of FALLIBLE is A. PROVEN. B. PERFECT. C. STEADFAST. 2. In an article titled "Kobe Bryant's Brilliant, _____, Maddeningly Driven Genius," Robert Silverman described Bryant as "beloved" and "fallible." A. Flawed B. Hidden C. Dedicated Answers to the review questions: 1. B 2. A Answer to the game question: annus mirabilis = dear year   a final word: I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.