Flaw

Definition: Flaw

Flaw

Noun

1. An imperfection in a device or machine; "if there are any defects you should send it back to the manufacturer".

2. Defect or weakness in a peron's character; "he had his flaws, but he was great nonetheless".

Verb

1. Add a flaw or blemish to; make imperfect or defective.

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "flaw" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references)

Computing

Food & Agriculture

Geography

Mining

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

FLAW

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

Synonyms: Flaw

Blemish

Noun: blemish, disfigurement, deformity; adactylism; flaw, defect; (imperfection) ; injury; (deterioration); spots on the sun; eyesore.

Discontinuity

Noun: discontinuity; disjunction; anacoluthon; interruption, break, fracture, flaw, fault, crack, cut; gap; (interval); solution of continuity, caesura; broken thread; parenthesis, episode, rhapsody, patchwork; intermission; alternation; (periodicity); dropping fire.

Error

Mistake; miss, fault, blunder, quiproquo, cross purposes, oversight, misprint, erratum, corrigendum, slip, blot, flaw, loose thread; trip, stumble; (failure); botchery; (want of skill); slip of the tongue, slip of the lip, Freudian slip; slip of the pen; lapsus linguae, clerical error; bull; (absurdity); haplography.

Guilt

Misconduct, misbehavior, misdoing, misdeed; malpractice, fault, sin, error, transgression; dereliction, delinquency; indiscretion, lapse, slip, trip, faux pas, peccadillo; flaw, blot, omission; failing, failure; break, bad break , capital crime, delictum.

Imperfection

Fault, defect, weak point; screw loose; flaw; (break); gap; twist; taint, attainder; bar sinister, hole in one's coat; blemish; weakness; half blood; shortcoming; drawback; seamy side.

Interval

Noun: interval, interspace; separation; break, gap, opening; hole; chasm, hiatus, caesura; interruption, interregnum; interstice, lacuna, cleft, mesh, crevice, chink, rime, creek, cranny, crack, chap, slit, fissure, scissure, rift, flaw, breach, rent, gash, cut, leak, dike, ha-ha.

Reasoning,

Meshes of sophistry, cobwebs of sophistry; flaw in an argument; weak point, bad case.

Crosswords: Flaw

It was a character flaw, sure, but we all have those (S.L.C. Punk!; writing credit: James Merendino.)

It does have one design flaw; the door (Seinfeld; writing credit: Andreas Lenze; Bea Schmidt)

Yes, but I seem to have a design flaw. (Buffy the Vampire Slayer; writing credit: Doreen Spicer)

You always had one flaw, McCall: You hated to see people die (The Equalizer; writing credit: Grenville Casey; Loraine Despres)

He's got some fatal flaw. (Head Over Heels; writing credit: John J. Strauss; Ed Decter)

We worship the flaw, the belly, the belly, the mole on the belly of an exquisite whore (Babelogue; performing artist: Patti Smith)

The Flaw (1955)

Kojak: Fatal Flaw (1989)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• Castle and the Flaw (reference)

• Fatal Flaw (reference)

• Flaw (reference)

• Perfect Woman's Flaw (reference)

• The Deadly Flaw (reference)

  (more book examples)

Music

• Design Flaw (reference)

• The Perfect Flaw (reference)

  (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Health

In X-linked SCID, the most common type, a genetic flaw damages molecules that allow T cells and B cells to receive signals from crucial growth factors. (references)

Autosomal recessive PKD is caused by a particular genetic flaw that is different from the genetic flaw that causes autosomal dominant PKD. Parents who do not have the disease can have a child with the disease if both parents carry the abnormal gene and both pass the gene to their baby. The chance of this happening (when both parents carry the abnormal gene) is one in four. If only one parent carries the abnormal gene, the baby cannot get the disease. (references)

Business

The perceived flaw in the KAI business plan is that it is based almost solely on military projects. (references)

Economic History

Jordan

One flaw in the credit market is the lack of long-term credit; this owes to the short-term nature of banks' deposit structure. (references)

Human Rights

China

A major flaw of the Criminal Procedure Law is that it does not address the reeducation-through-labor system. (references)

Political Rights

Belarus

Despite considerable international attention to the composition of these commissions, and recommendations by international organizations for needed changes before the election, the regime took no action to attempt to address this flaw. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Expressions using "flaw": fiery flaw ♦ flaw detector ♦ flaw lead ♦ flaw polynya ♦ operating system security flaw ♦ security flaw ♦ to flaw ♦ tragic flaw. Additional references.

Beginning with "flaw": flaw-free.

Ending with "flaw": impairment-as-flaw, pseudo-flaw.

Afrikaans

bars (burst, crack, split). (various references)

Albanian

stuhi (flurry, gale, hurricane, storm, tempest, thunderstorm), shkulm ere (blast, blow, flurry, gust, squall), plasaritje (chap, cleft, crack, cracking), plasaritem (chap, crack, seam), krisje, kriset, e metë (blemish, defect, deficit, demerit, disfigurement, failing, fault, feebleness, handicap, limitations, shortcoming, weakness), cen (blemish, blot, defect, deficit, demerit, disablement, disfigurement, imperfection, malformation, shortcoming, vice). (various references)

Arabic 

‏هبة ريح, ‏نقص (allow, cut, cut down, decrease, deficiency, depress, deprivation, detract, diminish, diminution, disadvantage, drawback, failing, famish, gap, imperfection, incompetence, insufficiency, knock off, lack, lessen, limit, lower, paucity, rareness, reduce, reduction, retrench, revocation, scantiness, scarcity, shortage, shortcoming, thin), ‏عيب (blemish, blot, blotch, deformity, demerit, disgrace, failing, fault, imperfection, infirmity, shortcoming, stain, vice, want), ‏علة عيب (blemish, defect, deficiency), ‏صدع (breach, chasm, check, chink, cleft, crack, cranny, crevice, fault, fissure, rent, rift, split), ‏خلل (acetify, blemish, defect, deficiency, disorder, failing, fault, imperfection, pickle, preserve, souse, trouble), ‏خطأ (balk, error, fault, inaccuracy, misconception, miss, mistake, stumble), ‏جو عاصف, ‏شق (chap, check, chink, cleavage, cleave, cleft, crack, cranny, crash, crevasse, crevice, cut, excavate, fissure, fracture, hew, hole, incise, incision, jag, loophole, lump, nick, open, overture, part, rift, rip, rive, slash, slit, slot, snag, snip, spiracle, splinter, split, spring, tear, twist). (various references)

Bulgarian 

цепнатина (chink, cleavage, cleft, crack, cracking, fissure, leak, rent, rift, shake, slash, slit, slot), шквал, кусур, краткотрайна буря, внезапен вятър, недостатък (blemish, debit, defect, deficiency, demerit, disadvantage, disfiguration, drawback, failing, fault, hole, imperfection, kink, objection, shortcoming, vice, weakness), пуквам (break, crack, crackle, explode, kick in, peg out, pop, pop off, snuff out, spring), пукнатина (break, chap, chink, cleft, cranny, crevice, fissure, gash, leak, rift, shake, split, spring), пролука (aperture, chink, crack, cranny, gap, leak, rent, slot), пропуск (blank, countersign, gap, lapse, negligence, omission, out, oversight, pass, permit, pretermission, protection, safe conduct, skip, slip, slip up), правя недействителен (vitiate, void), повреждам се (be damaged, break down, get out of order, go wrong), повреждам (blemish, damage, derange, disturb, endamage, hurt, ill use, impair, injure, maim, maul, mutilate, ravage, scathe, spoil, strafe, trouble, vitiate), повреда (breakdown, conk, damage, defect, failure, fault, hurt, injury, lesion, mischief, scathe, trouble), петно (attaint, blob, blot, blotch, dab, daub, defilement, fleck, mottle, note, offset, reflection, slur, smear, smirch, smudge, soil, spot, stain, stigma, sully, taint, tarnish). (various references)

Chinese 

裂紋 (crackle), 纇 (knot), 缺点 (Drawback, fault, Flawing, imperfection, shortcoming), 疵 (blemish, defect). (various references)

Czech

kaz (blemish, defect, fault, hole, rot). (various references)

Danish

flaw, fejl i træet (blemish), fejl i træ (defect in wood), fejl (aberration, error, mistake), smuthul (fault, loophole), hul (concave, hole, hollow). (various references)

Dutch

barst (burst, crack, crevice). (various references)

Esperanto

krevaĵo (burst, crack). (various references)

Finnish

vika (defect, deficiency, fault). (various references)

French

défaut. (various references)

German

mangel (absence, dearth, default, defect, deficiency, deficit, desideratum, drought, fault, imperfection, lack, mangle, need, paucity, penury, poverty, privation, privations, rotary iron, scarcities, scarcity, shortage, shortcoming, vise, want), fehler (aberration, absence, blemish, bug, defect, deficiency, demerits, error, failing, fault, flaws, lack, lapse, misstep, mistake, mistakes, nonconformance, shortage, shortcoming, slip, slipup, solecism, trip, vise). (various references)

Greek 

ατέλεια (blemish, defect, deficiency, fault, imperfection, imperfectness, incompleteness, shortcoming, sketchiness), ψεγάδι (blemish, fault). (various references)

Hebrew 

פ�'ם (blemish, blot, defect, fault, impair, imperfection, notch, shortcoming, weakness), �"ופי (blemish, fault, impurity, insult, scorn, slur, smirch, taint), ס�"ק (chap, chink, cleft, crack, cranny, fissure, fracture, rift, slit, split). (various references)

Hungarian

törés (break, breakage, breaking, chip, comminution, crack, cracking, discontinuity, fault, fraction, fracture, gall, rift in the lute, rift within the lute, rupture, snap, trauma), tévedés (blue, bobble, deception, delusion, error, failure, fallacy, fault, inaccuracy, lapse, misapprehension, miscalculation, misprision, miss, mistake, oversight, wrong), szilánk (chip, flinders, fragment, shard, shatter, sherd, shiver, sliver, spall, splint, splinter, splintering), szépséghiba (a fly in the ointment), szélroham (blast, flurry, gust, gust of wind, squall, white squall, wind squall), repesz (chip, flinders, fragment, splinter, splintering), repedés (chop, cleft, crack, cranny, fission, fissure, flake, rictus, rift, slit, spring, tear), hiba (aberration, blemish, bloomer, blooper, blue, bobble, clinker, default, demerit, error, failing, failure, fault, flub-up, glitch, inaccuracy, lapse, malformation, mischief, mistake, shortcoming, trouble, wrong), hiányosság (blemish, defect, deficiency, fault, incompleteness, incompletion, insufficiency, scantiness), hasadék (breach, chink, chop, cleft, cranny, crevice, fissure, gorge, hiatus, ravine, rip, rive), folytonossági hiány (break of continuity, hiatus), folt (blemish, blob, blot, blotch, blur, cloud, clout, crock, dab, freckle, gout, mottle, patch, smear, smirch, smudge, speck, speckle, splash, splatter, splodge, splotch, spot, stain, tarnish), alaki hiba, öntvényhólyag. (various references)

Indonesian

retak (crack, cracked, crevice, fissure), pecah (broken, spring), mala (accident, disaster, misfortune), kesalahan (error, gaffe, guilt, mistake, trespass), cela (blemish, defect, disgrace, short coming). (various references)

Italian

difetto (blemish, bug, damage, dearth, default, defect, deficiency, desideratum, detriment, disadvantages, disservice, failure, fault, harm, lack, Miss, shortage, shortcoming, vice), screpolatura (burst, chap, check, crack, cracking, crevice), fessura (burst, chink, cleft, crack, cranny, crevice, fissure, leak, Rive, slit, slot, split), crepa (burst, cleft, crack, crevice, fissure, rift, split). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

粗 (blemish, defect, weak point), 罅 (crack, fissure), 疵瑕 (blemish, defect), 瑕疵 (blemish, defect), 瑕 (blemish, defect, weak point), 汚点 (blot, disgrace, stain). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

おて�" (blot, disgrace, stain), きず (blemish, bruise, cut, defect, gash, hurt, injury, scar, scratch, weak point, wound), しか (blemish, current price, deer, defect, dentistry, furlough, historian, Japanesepoetry, leave of absence, market price, one's own house, price of paper, price of silk thread, private house, the teacher's home), ひび (chaps, crack, daily, day after day, every day, fissure), かし (apparent death, asphyxiation, being granted, blemish, defect, evergreen oak, Fahrenheit, false tooth, filament, fish market, granting, imperial grant, lending, loan, lower extremities, noncommissioned officer, pastry, river bank, riverside, song lyrics, the legs, visibility, words of a song), あら (blemish, defect, weak point). (various references)

Korean 

하자 (Flawing). (various references)

Manx

scaaney (chink, cleave, cleft, crack, cranny, crevice, fissure; mirror, fracture, interstice, rend), loght (crime, default, fault, guilt, iniquity, serious offence, shortcoming, transgression, trespass, vice), lheamys (blemish, default, defect, deformity, different, fault, imperfection), gibbey, foill (blame, defect, fault, foible, imperfection, vice). (various references)

Norwegian

feil (aberration, defect, error, fault, lapse, mistake), mangel (absence, defect, deficiency, lack). (various references)

Pig Latin

awflay.(various references)

Portuguese

imperfeição (acerbity, failing, lameness, roughness, shortcoming), greta (chink, crack, cranny, crevice, rift), fenda (aperture, breach, chap, chink, cranny, crevasse, crevice, fracture, gap, hiatus, leak, pit, rent, rift, rip, slit, split), falha (absence, brack, break, fail, failure, imperfection, lack, miss, muff, rift, rub, shortcoming), defeito (aberration, abuse, blister, blot, bug, error, failing, frailty, imperfection, malformation, mistake, shortcoming, taint, vice, weakness). (various references)

Romanian

punct slab (weak spot), crãpa (break, burst, chap, check, cleave, crack, half-open, hook it, rift, slit, splinter, split, split a log, spring, wolf), crãpãturã (breach, break, chasm, chink, cleft, crack, cranny, crevasse, crevice, eyehole, fissure, loophole, Nick, rent, rift, slit, slot, split, yawn), cusur (blemish, defect, drawback, failing, fault, foible, shortcoming, vice, weakness), defect (defect, deficiency, demerit, drawback, failing, fault, hole, imperfection, infelicity, lame, shortcoming, ulcer, vice, want, weakness), greşealã (aberration, blemish, bloomer, blunder, defect, drawback, error, failing, fault, lapse, miscarriage, mistake, rub, shortcoming, sin, slip, trespass, wrong), imperfecţiune (defect, imperfection, lameness), invalida (invalidate, prescribe, quash), ştirbi (break, harm, indent), patã (blemish, blot, blur, breath, dab, fleck, Mark, patch, slur, smear, smirch, smudge, smut, smutch, soil, spatter, spill, splash, splotch, spot, stain, stigma, taint, tarnish, ulcer), viciu de formã (informality), rafalã (a burst of gun-fire, a fire of musketry, enfilade, flurry, gust, pelt, squall), se crãpa (crack, fissure, rend, spring), se sparge (break, burst, chip, comb, crack, go snap, smash, snap, snap off), spãrturã (blank, breach, break, chasm, cranny, gap, leak, rent), sparge (annihilate, batter, break, burst, chip away, chop, crack, crush, cut, dash, destroy, pick, rip, smash, snap, splinter, split), stigmat (badge, blemish, brand, note, stigma), strica (bastardize, batter, bedevil, blast, blight, break, bungle, contaminate, corrupt, crack, cripple, damage, debauch, decompose, deface, deflower, demolish, deprave, derange, destroy, disarrange, disconcert, disfigure, disorganize, disturb, frustrate, hackle, harm, hurt, impair, injure, Mar, muck, muddle, pervert, pip, quash, rot, sophisticate, spoil, taint, vitiate, wreck), omisiune (deficiency, negligence, omission, out, overlooking, oversight, slip). (various references)

Russian 

щель (areaway, call slot, chink, cleft, crack, cranny, crevice, fissure, gap, hiatus, interstice, notch, peep, rent, rift, slit, slit trench, slot), трещина (cavity, chap, check, chink, cleft, crack, cranny, fissure, fracture, joint, rent, rift, slit, split, vug), недостаток недоработанный, недостаток (blemish, dearth, default, defect, deficiency, demerit, destitution, disadvantage, drawback, failing, failure, fault, lack, letdown, minus, objection, penury, privation, scarcity, shortage, shortcoming, vice, want), изъян (cockle, defect, fault). (various references)

Scottish

aineamh. (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

pukotina (cleft, crack, cranny, crevice, fissure, gap, leak, rent, seam), mana (blemish, defect, drawback, failing, fault, foible, imperfection, manna, mar, shortcoming), jak nalet vetra (blast), defekt (breakdown). (various references)

Spanish

grieta (burst, chasm, chink, cleft, crack, cranny, crevasse, crevice, fissure, rift, seam, shake, split), quebraja (burst, crack, crevice), hendedura (burst, chasm, chink, cleavage, cleft, crack, crevice, fissure, gap, gash, incision, rift, slit, split), falla (failure, fault, shift, void), desperfecto (error, fault, faults, flaws, imperfection, slip, slipup). (various references)

Swedish

spricka (break, burst, chink, cleavage, crack, crevice, fissure, go phut, plough, rent, score). (various references)

Turkish

zarar vermek (damage, do a disservice, do harm, encroach, harm, hurt, impair, infest, injure, prejudice, scathe, scourge, shatter, spite), yarmak (breach, chop, cleave, Crimp, disrupt, hew, incise, maul, plough, plow, rend, rift, rip, sever, slash, slit, splinter, split, tear, wedge off), sakatlamak (cripple, disable, hamstring, injure, lame, maim, Mar, mutilate, nobble), noksanlık, kusur (blame, blemish, cavil, culpability, defalcation, default, defect, deficiency, demerit, failing, failure, fault, freckle, gaff, imperfection, inaccuracy, infirmity, remissness, scar, shortcoming, stigma, taint, vice), hata (balk, baulk, blemish, delinquency, demerit, error, failing, false step, falsity, fault, faux pas, floater, fluff, gaffe, goof, imperfection, inaccuracy, lapse, mistake, slip, slip up, stumble, trip, wrong, wrongness), hasara uğratmak (damage, wreck), defo, üretim hatası, özür (allegation, amends, apologetic, apologetical, apology, crack, defect, disablement, excuse, handicap, pardon, putoff, reparation, vice), çatlatmak (chap, crack, craze, rift, split), çatlak (balmy, barmy, break, chap, chapped, chappy, chink, chip, cleft, cloven, crack, crack-brained, cracked, crackers, cracky, cranny, crevasse, crevice, cuckoo, disordered, fault, fissure, fracture, fractured, hoarse, interstice, interstitial, meshuggah, nut, nutty, off one's chump, off one's rocker, pixilated, potty, queer, queer in the head, rift, rupture, rusty, screwy, shake, shaken, shaky, split, spring, touched). (various references)

Turkmen 

kem (defect). (various references)

Ukrainian

тріскатися (crack), тріщина (break, chap, chink, chop, cleft, crack, cranny, crevice, fissure, rift), шквал (flurry, gust, squall, thud), псувати (alloy, bedevil, blemish, blight, blur, break, corrupt, cripple, debase, deface, deform, degrade, deprave, destroy, deteriorate, discount, disfigure, do for, envenom, erode, make miserable, mess, mismanage, muddle, muff, perish, prejudice, punish, queer, spoil, vitiate, waste), дути поривами (wallow), дефект (brack, damage, defect, demerit, fault). (various references)

Vietnamese 

thói xấu thiếu sót, cơn gió mạnh cơn bâo ngắn vết nứt. (various references)

Welsh

nam (blemish, mark). (various references)

macula. (various references)

Derivations

Words beginning with "flaw": flawed, flawier, flawiest, flawing, flawless, flawlessly, flawlessness, flawlessnesses, flaws, flawy. (additional references)

Words ending with "flaw": scofflaw, windflaw. (additional references)

Words containing "flaw": scofflaws, windflaws. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Flaw" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Aflaq, Alaw, Alfwy, elaw, faaw, faw, fawb, fawg, fawk, fawl, fellaw, fiaw, fla, flad, Flaf, flaq, flav, flawe, flawt, fleaw, flewd, flewn, flewy, fliq, floaw, flowg, flowy, Foawr, fraw, glaw, Klaw, lfa, tlaw. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-1 letter: awl, law.

-2 letters: al, aw, fa, la.

+1 letter: awful, flaws, flawy.

+2 letters: fallow, flawed, flyway, lawful, sawfly, waeful, waffle.

+3 letters: airflow, alewife, awfully, batfowl, cowflap, dewfall, fallows, flawier, flawing, flowage, flyaway, flyways, folkway, halfway, lifeway, peafowl, seafowl, swayful, waffled, waffler, waffles, wailful, wakeful, wameful, welfare, wolfram.

+4 letters: aardwolf, airflows, awfuller, backflow, batfowls, cowflaps, dewfalls, downfall, fallaway, fallowed, farewell, fawnlike, firewall, flatware, flatwash, flatways, flatwise, flatwork, flatworm, flawiest, flawless, fleawort, floodway, flowages, flyaways, foldaway, folkways, footwall, kalewife, lawfully, leafworm, leftward, lifeways, peafowls, sawflies, scofflaw, seafowls, selfward, snowfall, unlawful, wafflers, waffling, waiflike, wamefuls, wasteful, watchful, weariful, welfares, windfall, windflaw, wolframs, wrackful, wrathful.