error

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

Deviation from truth

Nouns

1. error, fallacy; falsity (see falsehood), untruth; misconception, misapprehension, misunderstanding; inexactness, inaccuracy; anachronism; misconstruction, misinterpretation, miscomputation, misjudgment, misstatement; aberration. See heterodoxy, wrong, neglect, unskillfulness.

2. mistake, miss, fault, blunder, misadventure; oversight; misprint, erratum; slip, flaw, trip, stumble; slip of the tongue, lapsus linguae, slip of the pen, lapse; solecism; typographical or clerical error; malapropism, blooper, metathesis; bull, break; demerit. Informal, boner, howler, typo, booboo. Slang, clam, chunk.

3. (mistaken idea) delusion, illusion, false impression, self-deception; heresy; hallucination, optical illusion (see deception).

Verbs

1. be erroneous, mislead, misguide, lead astray, lead into error, beguile, misinform, delude, give a false impression, misstate. Informal, not add up, not hold up, not hold water.

2. err, be in error, be mistaken, goof, lapse, slip up; mistake, receive a false impression, be in the wrong, stray, not have a leg to stand on; take for; misapprehend, misconceive, misinterpret, misunderstand, miscalculate, misjudge; be at cross purposes, slip up, slip a cog or gear. Informal, bark up the wrong tree, back the wrong horse, be all wet, throw the baby out with the bathwater, miss by a mile.

3. make a mistake, blunder, put one's foot in one's mouth; misdo, misapply; trip, stumble, lose oneself, go astray; bungle, botch. Slang, fuck up, screw up.

Adjectives

1. erroneous, untrue, fallacious; apocryphal, ungrounded; groundless, unsubstantial; heretical, unsound, illogical; unauthenticated; exploded, refuted.

2. inexact, inaccurate, incorrect, ungrammatical, faulty. Slang, off, ass-backward. See wrong.

3. (misleading) illusive, illusory, delusive; spurious. See deception.

4. (having erroneous ideas) in error, mistaken, aberrant, wide of the mark, out of line, astray, faulty, at fault, on a false scent, at cross purposes. Slang, all wet, off-base.

Adverbs — erroneously, wrongly, by error, by mistake; inaccurately, imprecisely.

Phrases — a miss is as good as a mile; there's many a slip 'twixt cup and lip; to err is human (to forgive divine); you cannot make an omelet without breaking [a few] eggs.

Quotations — Truth lies within a little and certain compass, but error is immense (Lord Bolingbroke), The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything (Edward John Phelps), The report of my death was an exaggeration (Mark Twain), The weak have one weapon: the errors of those who think they are strong (Georges Bidault).

Antonyms, see truth, grammar.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [A specific miscalculation]

Syn. mistake, blunder, slip, fault, faux pas, gaffe, oversight, inaccuracy, goof, misjudgment, miscalculation, deviation, wrong, lapse, miss, failure, mismanagement, misdoing, omission, slight, misprint, typographical error, typo*, slip of the tongue, misusage, solecism, malapropism, mispronunciation, misstep, misunderstanding, misbelief, absurdity, misreport, untruth, trip, stumble, bungle, botch, flaw, erratum, corrigendum, howler*, glitch*, boner*, boo-boo*, blooper*, slip-up*, muff*, bad job*, flub*, clinker*, bobble*, miscue*, fluff*, screw-up*, foul-up*, snafu*.

2. [General misconception]

Syn. falsity, delusion, misunderstanding, erroneousness; see fallacy 1 , misunderstanding 1 .

3. [A moral offense]

Syn. transgression, wrongdoing, sin; see sin .

Syn.- error implies deviation from truth, accuracy, correctness or right and is the broadest term in this comParison [ an error in judgment, in computation, etc. ] ; mistake suggests an error resulting from carelessness, inattention, misunderstanding, etc. and does not in itself carry a strong implication of criticism [ a mistake in reading a blueprint ] ; blunder carries a suggestion of more severe criticism and implies such causes as stupidity, clumsiness, or inefficiency [ a tactical blunder cost them the war ] ; a slip is a mistake, usually slight, made inadvertently in speaking or writing; a faux pas is a social blunder or error in etiquette that causes embarrassment; boner and booboo , slang terms, are applied to a silly or ridiculous blunder

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) n.

mistake, inaccuracy, miscalculation, wrong, erratum, blunder, flub, *slip-up, boner, blooper, lapse, gaffe, wrongdoing, *howler, *boo-boo, misconception. ''The best teachers.''—James A. Froude.

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) noun 1. An act or thought that unintentionally deviates from what is correct, right, or true: erratum, inaccuracy, incorrectness, lapse, miscue, misstep, mistake, slip, slip-up, trip. See CORRECT. 2. An erroneous or false idea: erroneousness, fallacy, falsehood, falseness, falsity, untruth. See CORRECT, TRUE.