Advertisement

Advertisement

View synonyms for

error

[ er-er ]

noun

  1. a deviation from accuracy or correctness; a mistake, as in action or speech:

    His speech contained several factual errors.

    Synonyms: , ,

  2. belief in something untrue; the holding of mistaken opinions.
  3. the condition of believing what is not true:

    in error about the date.

  4. a moral offense; wrongdoing; sin.

    Synonyms: , , ,

  5. 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.
  6. Mathematics. the difference between the observed or approximately determined value and the true value of a quantity.
  7. Law.
    1. a mistake in a matter of fact or law in a case tried in a court of record.
  8. Philately. a stamp distinguished by an error or errors in design, engraving, selection of inks, or setting up of the printing apparatus. Compare freak 1( def 5 ), variety ( def 7 ).


error

/ ˈɛə /

noun

  1. a mistake or inaccuracy, as in action or speech

    a typing error

  2. an incorrect belief or wrong judgment
  3. the condition of deviating from accuracy or correctness, as in belief, action, or speech

    he was in error about the train times

  4. deviation from a moral standard; wrongdoing

    he saw the error of his ways

  5. 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%

  6. statistics See type I error type II error
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Discover More

Derived Forms

  • ˌǰ-ˈڰ, adjective
Discover More

Other Word Forms

  • ۴ǰ· adjective
  • ۴ǰ··ly adverb
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of error1

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English errour, from Latin ō-, stem of error, equivalent to err + -or 1
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of error1

C13: from Latin, from to err
Discover More

Idioms and Phrases

see comedy of errors ; trial and error .
Discover More

Synonym Study

See mistake.
Discover More

Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

But because of an “administrative error” by Trump officials, he remains in prison in El Salvador.

From

Many of the sub-postmasters wrongly accused by the Post Office maintained that there was no missing money and the shortfalls were down to errors in the Horizon system.

From

A tally of 25 unforced errors indicated it was a performance nowhere near befitting of the WTA Tour's dominant clay-court player of recent seasons.

From

Digital age checks can lead to "security breaches, privacy intrusion, errors, digital exclusion and censorship," according to Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch.

From

But 2023 world champion Brecel took six of the next seven frames in a scrappy encounter with both players making unexpected errors.

From

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


err on the side of cautionerror analysis