fault
(fɔlt)
n. 1. a defect or imperfection; flaw; failing.
2. responsibility for failure or a wrongful act.
3. an error or mistake.
4. a misdeed or transgression.
5. (in tennis, handball, etc.)
a. a ball that when served does not land in the proper section of an opponent's court.
b. a failure to serve the ball according to the rules, as from within a certain area.
6. a break in the continuity of a body of rock or of a vein, with dislocation along the plane of the fracture (
fault plane).
7. Obs. lack; want.
v.i. 8. to commit a fault; blunder; err.
9. Geol. to undergo faulting.
v.t. 10. to accuse of error; criticize.
Idioms: 1. at fault, open to censure; blameworthy.
2. find fault, to complain or be critical.
3. to a fault, to an extreme degree.
[1250–1300; Middle English faute < Anglo-French, Middle French « Latin fallere to be wrong]
syn: fault,
foible,
weakness,
failing,
vice refer to human shortcomings or imperfections.
fault refers to any ordinary shortcoming; condemnation is not necessarily implied:
Of his many faults the greatest is vanity.
foible suggests a weak point that is slight and often amusing, manifesting itself in eccentricity rather than in wrongdoing:
the foibles of an artist.
weakness suggests that a person is unable to control a particular impulse or response, and gives way to it:
a weakness for ice cream.
failing is particularly applied to humanity at large, suggesting common, often venial, shortcomings:
Procrastination is a common failing.
vice is the strongest term and designates a habit that is detrimental, immoral, or evil:
to succumb to the vice of compulsive gambling.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.