fallible
/ˈfæl.ə.bəl/adjective
fallible is spelled F-A-L-L-I-B-L-E: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,368th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, fallible means “Capable of making mistakes or being wrong” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in fallible?
| Letters | 8: F-A-L-L-I-B-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 49,368th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is fallible?
Fallible appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,368th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce fallible?
- UK /ˈfal.ɪ.bəl/
- UK [ˈfal.ɪ.bl̩]
- US /ˈfæl.ə.bəl/
Fallible has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-fallible.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Usmaan_(Middle_river_exports)-fallible.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of fallible
- more fallible comparative
- most fallible superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does fallible mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Capable of making mistakes or being wrong.
prove fallible
- 2
Capable of failure.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Fallible in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense capable of making mistakes or being wrong:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does fallible come from?
From Middle English fallible, from Medieval Latin fallibilis (“liable to err, also deceitful”), from Latin fallere (“to deceive”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).