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View synonyms for flaw

flaw

1

[ flaw ]

noun

  1. a feature that mars the perfection of something; defect; fault:

    beauty without flaw; the flaws in our plan.

    Synonyms: spot, blot, imperfection

  2. a defect impairing legal soundness or validity.
  3. a crack, break, breach, or rent.

    Synonyms: rift, fissure



verb (used with object)

  1. to produce a flaw in.

verb (used without object)

  1. to contract a flaw; become cracked or defective.

flaw

2

[ flaw ]

noun

  1. Also called windflaw. a sudden, usually brief windstorm or gust of wind.
  2. a short spell of rough weather.
  3. Obsolete. a burst of feeling, fury, etc.

flaw

1

/ flɔː /

noun

    1. a sudden short gust of wind; squall
    2. a spell of bad, esp windy, weather
  1. obsolete.
    an outburst of strong feeling


flaw

2

/ flɔː /

noun

  1. an imperfection, defect, or blemish
  2. a crack, breach, or rift
  3. law an invalidating fault or defect in a document or proceeding

verb

  1. to make or become blemished, defective, or imperfect

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Derived Forms

  • ˈflawy, adjective
  • ˈflawlessness, noun
  • ˈflawlessly, adverb
  • ˈflawless, adjective

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Other Words From

  • flawless adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of flaw1

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English flage, flaw(e), perhaps from Old Norse flaga “sliver, flake”

Origin of flaw2

First recorded in 1475–85, flaw is from the Old Norse word flaga attack, squall

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Word History and Origins

Origin of flaw1

C16: of Scandinavian origin; related to Norwegian flaga squall, gust, Middle Dutch vlāghe

Origin of flaw2

C14: probably from Old Norse flaga stone slab; related to Swedish flaga chip, flake, flaw

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Synonym Study

See defect.

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Example Sentences

An F-35 was destroyed on takeoff earlier in the year when a design flaw in its Pratt & Whitney F135 engine sparked a fire.

Rather than a flaw that heightens her appeal, it is a flaw that makes her difficult to forgive.

But the logic of the anti-interventionist left is built today around the same moral flaw that it was during the Cold War.

But the most glaring flaw is the decline in female directors.

How Wisconsin police discovered the lethal flaw before it became a national scandal.

The sharpened faculties have something of a lawyer's quickness in detecting a flaw in the indictment.

Its only flaw was a dangerous crack through the lamb's nose and front feet.

Athene (Roman Minerva) however, the goddess of wisdom, had a character without a flaw, and ranked with Apollo in wisdom.

There was not a flaw in the sequence of events, no possible reason for the suspicions which yet lingered at the back of his brain.

His whole scheme was complete, and he reviewed every point of it to make certain there was no flaw in it.

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