1
a
: a defect in physical structure or form
a diamond with a flaw
b
: an imperfection or weakness and especially one that detracts from the whole or hinders effectiveness
vanity was the flaw in his character
a flaw in the book's plot
2
obsolete
: fragment
flawed; flawing; flaws
: to become defective
1
: a sudden brief burst of wind
the wind changed with flaws from westward—
Archibald MacLeish
Archibald MacLeish
also
: a spell of stormy weather
2
obsolete
: an outburst especially of passion
Examples of flaw in a Sentence
Noun (1)
noted the flaw in the diamond before I bought it
Verb
that crack has flawed the vase to the extent that its value in the antiques market is greatly reduced
Recent Examples on the Web
James Broughel, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2025
There’s no denying the Yankees weren’t defensively flawed in 2024, but the issues in that particular inning should be viewed separately, especially because the players were the ones the organization would want involved in the action: the sure-handed Judge, Volpe, Cole and Anthony Rizzo.
—Chris Kirschner, The Athletic, 19 Feb. 2025
Will McCurdy, PCMAG, 1 Mar. 2025
Nevertheless, analysts saw flaws in the form of declining margins, slowing growth, and uncertainty regarding the impact of tariffs on China.
—Peter Cohan, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for flaw
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Verb
In fact, government economic analyses tend to be methodologically flawed in part because of OIRA oversight.
—James Broughel, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2025
There’s no denying the Yankees weren’t defensively flawed in 2024, but the issues in that particular inning should be viewed separately, especially because the players were the ones the organization would want involved in the action: the sure-handed Judge, Volpe, Cole and Anthony Rizzo.
—Chris Kirschner, The Athletic, 19 Feb. 2025
Noun
Google’s search boss, Prabhakar Raghavan, claimed that Gemini staff were at one point putting in 120 hours a week to fix a flaw in Google’s image recognition tool, according to a CNBC report.
—Will McCurdy, PCMAG, 1 Mar. 2025
Nevertheless, analysts saw flaws in the form of declining margins, slowing growth, and uncertainty regarding the impact of tariffs on China.
—Peter Cohan, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for flaw
Cite this Entry
“Flaw.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flaw. Accessed 4 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
flaw
1 of 2 noun
: a small often hidden defect
flawless
adjective
-ləs
flawlessly
adverb
flawlessness
noun
flaw
2 of 2 verb
: to make or become defective
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