English Explanatory Dictionary

fault

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Culpability; the responsibility for a blameworthy event.
  2. A defect, imperfection, or weakness; more severe than a flaw.
  3. A failing of character; less severe than a vice.
  4. A characteristic, positive or negative or both, which increases one's risk of danger or difficulty.
  5. A strongly undesirable variation of food or drink caused by impurity or contamination.
  6. A point of weakness in something's physical structure.
  7. A mistake or error.
  8. A minor offense.
  9. An illegal serve.
  10. A penalty point assessed in horseback events such as show jumping.
  11. An exception within a software program or process.
  12. A point at which something is divided, interrupted, or disconnected.
verb
  1. To criticize, blame or find fault with something or someone.
  2. To fracture.
  3. To commit a mistake or error.
  4. To undergo a page fault.

Pronunciation

/fɔːlt/ /fɒlt/ En-uk-fault.ogg /fɔlt/ /fɑlt/ en-us-fault.ogg [fɒːlt]

Word forms

fault faults faulting faulted

Etymology

From Middle English faute, faulte, from Anglo-Norman faute, Old French faute, from Vulgar Latin *fallita (“shortcoming”), feminine of *fallitus, in place of Latin falsus, perfect passive participle of fallō (“deceive”). Displaced native Middle English schuld, schuild (“fault”) (from Old English scyld (“fault”)), Middle English lac (“fault, lack”) (from Middle Dutch lak (“lack, fault”)), Middle English last (“fault, vice”) (from Old Norse lǫstr (“fault, vice, crime”)). Compare French faute (“fault, foul”), Portuguese falta (“lack, shortage”) and Spanish falta (“lack, absence”). More at fail, false.

Synonyms

vulnerability accuse admonish put the blame on animadvert bash bawl out slash lash blame scorch blast berate berisp castigate censure charge chastise chew out chide condemn criticize denounce denunciate deprecate derogate dispraise drag dress down eat someone alive excoriate find fault fulminate get at get down get up give somebody a piece of one's mind give somebody what-for inveigh lace into lambaste lay into lecture light into objurgate pooh-pooh put someone on blast rate read somebody the riot act rebuke reprehend reprimand reproach reprove rip into rubbish savage scold skewer slam

Related words

default

Derived words

active fault a fault confessed is half redressed arc fault at fault at-fault blind thrust fault Byzantine fault tolerance dextral fault double fault double-fault downfault electrical fault fault current faultfinder faultfind fault-find fault-finding faultfinding fault-free faultful fault gouge fault injection faultless fault-line fault line fault plane fault-prone fault scarp fault tolerance fault-tolerant fault trace fault tree faultworthy faulty find fault findfault foot fault footfault interfault it's not my fault locked fault no-fault divorce no-fault no fault page fault pick-fault pick fault postfault pseudofault San Andreas fault segfault segmentation fault sinistral fault strikeslip fault subfault time fault to a fault triple fault upfault wrench fault

Translations

Albanian: gabim Albanian: faj Arabic: خَلَل Arabic: عَيْب Arabic: عَوَار Arabic: خَطَأ Arabic: غَلْطَة Arabic: زمب Belarusian: дэфе́кт Belarusian: га́на Belarusian: памы́лка Bengali: দোষ Bengali: ত্রুটি Bengali: ভুল Bengali: গলতি Bengali: খাতা Bhojpuri: दोष Bulgarian: дефе́кт Bulgarian: недоста́тък Bulgarian: гре́шка Catalan: errada Catalan: culpa Catalan: defecte Catalan: error Chinese Mandarin: 毛病 Chinese Mandarin: 缺點 /缺点 Chinese Mandarin: 錯誤 /错误 Ngazidja Comorian: kosa Czech: chyba Esperanto: eraro Estonian: viga Finnish: puute Finnish: virhe Finnish: vika Finnish: epäkohta Finnish: moka French: défaut French: faute Georgian: წუნი Georgian: ნაკლი Georgian: შეცდომა Georgian: ცდომილება German: Fehler German: Schuld Hebrew: פָּגַם Hebrew: טָעוּת Hebrew: משגה Hindi: खोट Hindi: दोष Hindi: ग़लती Hindi: क़सूर Hungarian: hiba Hungarian: hiányosság Hungarian: fogyatékosság Hungarian: mulasztás Italian: colpa Italian: imperfezione Japanese: 欠点 Japanese: 欠陥 Japanese: せい Japanese: 誤り Korean: 결함 Latin: vitium Latin: culpa Malayalam: പിഴവ് Maranao: daway Maranao: sala' Persian: عیب Persian: عوار Persian: نقص Persian: خطا Polish: wada Polish: defekt Polish: błąd Polish: pomyłka Portuguese: defeito Portuguese: falha Portuguese: culpa Romanian: hibă Romanian: vină Romanian: greșeală Romanian: culpă Russian: дефе́кт Russian: изъя́н Russian: оши́бка Russian: про́мах Russian: просчёт Sanskrit: दोष Sanskrit: अगुण Scottish Gaelic: cron Scottish Gaelic: coire Serbo-Croatian: грешка Serbo-Croatian: грјешка Serbo-Croatian: мана Serbo-Croatian: кривња Serbo-Croatian: greška Serbo-Croatian: grješka Serbo-Croatian: mana Serbo-Croatian: krivnja Slovak: chyba Slovene: hiba Spanish: defecto Spanish: falla Spanish: culpa Swedish: fel Swedish: brist Swedish: skuld Telugu: తప్పిదం Thai: ข้อบกพร่อง Thai: จุดบกพร่อง Turkish: yanlış Turkish: hata
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