flaw /flɔː $ flɒː/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Origin: Perhaps from Old Norse flaga 'flat stone' ; ⇨ ↑ flag 1 ]
1 . a mistake, mark, or weakness that makes something imperfect SYN defect
flaw in
a flaw in the software
serious/major/basic/minor etc flaw
a slight flaw in the glass
A design flaw (=a mistake or weakness in the way something was made) caused the engine to explode.
2 . a mistake or problem in an argument, plan, set of ideas etc
flaw of
Beautiful scenery does not make up for the flaws of this film.
flaw in
There is a fundamental flaw in Walton’s argument.
fatal flaw (=a weakness that makes something certain to fail)
3 . a fault in someone’s character:
Jealousy is Othello’s major flaw.
the President’s character flaws
• • •
THESAURUS
■ something wrong
▪ fault a problem in a machine, system, design etc that causes damage or makes it not work properly:
The fire was caused by an electrical fault.
|
a fault in the engine
▪ defect a fault in something such as a product or machine, resulting from the way it was made or designed:
Cars are tested for defects before they leave the factory.
▪ weakness a part of a plan, system, or argument that is not as good as the other parts, and makes it likely to fail:
What are the strengths and weaknesses of each method?
▪ flaw a fault in a plan, system, argument etc, especially one that makes it useless or not effective:
Your argument has a fundamental flaw.
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There was one major flaw in his suggestion – we didn’t have enough money.
▪ bug a fault in a computer program:
A bug in the system was quickly fixed.
▪ glitch a small fault in the way something works, that can usually be easily corrected:
I noticed a small glitch when installing the software.
▪ mistake something that is wrong in someone’s spelling, grammar, calculations etc:
The article was full of spelling mistakes.
▪ there’s something wrong with something used when saying that there is a problem in a machine, car etc, but you do not know what it is:
There’s something wrong with the computer – it won’t close down.