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fault

noun · verb

Simple meaning

Culpability; the responsibility for a blameworthy event.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

fawlt
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈfɔlt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. typically uncountable

    Culpability; the responsibility for a blameworthy event.

  2. A defect, imperfection, or weakness; more severe than a flaw.

  3. A mistake or error.

  4. A minor offense.

  5. A point at which something is divided, interrupted, or disconnected.

  6. A strongly undesirable variation of food or drink caused by impurity or contamination.

verb

  1. intransitive

    To commit a mistake or error.

  2. transitive

    To criticize, blame or find fault with something or someone.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Varies by meaning

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (typically uncountable) Culpability; the responsibility for a blameworthy event.

Used this way, fault is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use fault

  • “He served too many double faults.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

fault tolerancefault linefound faultfault zonefinding fault

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • fault linenounCompound term

    Line determined by the intersection of a geological fault and the earth's surface.

  • denali faultnounCompound term

    A major open geological fault in Alaska.

  • double faultnounCompound term

    Two successive faults in serving resulting in the loss of the point.

  • find faultverbCompound term

    Harass with constant criticism.

  • geological faultnounCompound term

    A crack in the earth's crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other.

  • gravity faultnounCompound term

    An inclined fault in which the hanging wall appears to have slipped downward relative to the footwall.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: to commit a mistake or error

blame

Antonyms

Sense: culpability

freeInformal

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.