error
Americannoun
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a deviation from accuracy or correctness; a mistake, as in action or speech.
His speech contained several factual errors.
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belief in something untrue; the holding of mistaken opinions.
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the condition of believing what is not true.
in error about the date.
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a moral offense; wrongdoing; sin.
- Synonyms:
- misdeed, trespass, transgression, fault
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Baseball. a misplay that enables a base runner to reach base safely or advance a base, or a batter to have a turn at bat prolonged, as the dropping of a ball batted in the air, the fumbling of a batted or thrown ball, or the throwing of a wild ball, but not including a passed ball or wild pitch.
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Mathematics. the difference between the observed or approximately determined value and the true value of a quantity.
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Law.
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a mistake in a matter of fact or law in a case tried in a court of record.
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Philately. a stamp distinguished by an error or errors in design, engraving, selection of inks, or setting up of the printing apparatus.
noun
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a mistake or inaccuracy, as in action or speech
a typing error
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an incorrect belief or wrong judgment
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the condition of deviating from accuracy or correctness, as in belief, action, or speech
he was in error about the train times
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deviation from a moral standard; wrongdoing
he saw the error of his ways
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maths statistics a measure of the difference between some quantity and an approximation to or estimate of it, often expressed as a percentage
an error of 5%
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statistics See type I error type II error
Related Words
See mistake.
Other Word Forms
- error-free adjective
- errorless adjective
- errorlessly adverb
Etymology
Origin of error
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English errour, from Latin errōr-, stem of error, equivalent to err + -or 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Despite carrying a five-point lead into the free skate, Malinin placed 15th for his routine after two falls and multiple errors, and eighth overall.
From Barron's
The suit alleged that Sam and his co-pilot had made critical errors that contributed to the crash, including failing to react to a traffic warning and failing to see and avoid the helicopter.
AI coding assistants detect errors and recommend improvements, but they didn’t make programs from scratch—until recently.
From Barron's
“Just as in the rest of the world, we are in a period of trial and error,” he says.
A motorist found himself facing a £20,000 bill for missed toll payments after an apparent paperwork error.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
