INFALLIBLE


Meaning of INFALLIBLE in English

(ˈ)in, ən+ adjective

Etymology: Medieval Latin infallibilis, from Latin in- in- (I) + Late Latin fallibilis fallible — more at fallible

1. : not fallible : incapable of error : unerring

infallible marksman

infallible ear for pitch in music

infallible memory

2. : not liable to mislead, deceive, or disappoint : sure , certain , indubitable

infallible remedy

his accent is an almost infallible index of his family background and education — Richard Joseph

infallible scheme for making money

3. : incapable of error in defining doctrines touching faith or morals

Synonyms:

inerrable , inerrant , unerring : infallible describes that which is exempt from possibility of error or mistake or that which has been errorless

no mathematician is infallible; he may make mistakes — A.S.Eddington

believed in an infallible Bible — W.W.Sweet

inerrable and inerrant are erudite synonyms for infallible sometimes used in its stead to escape connotations arising from the discussion of papal infallibility; the latter may imply that whatever is described has not so far erred

the Church was ubiquitous, omniscient, theoretically inerrant and omnicompetent — G.G.Coulton

at the moment we lack, in all English-speaking countries, the inerrant literary sense which gave us the Prayer Book Collects, often quite as beautiful in translation as in the original Latin — W.L.Sperry

unerring may imply freedom from error coupled with sureness, reliability, and exactness

an unerring marksman

a man's language is an unerring index of his nature — Laurence Binyon

the unerring scent of the hounds in pursuit — George Meredith

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.