Meaning & use
a fatal flaw
Last updated
Meaning
phrasecountable
A serious weakness or mistake that leads to failure or disaster.
Grammar: Countable noun phrase. You can say 'a fatal flaw in something' or 'his fatal flaw is...'.
Patterns
- a fatal flaw in something
- have a fatal flaw
- someone's fatal flaw
The plan had a fatal flaw: it ignored the possibility of bad weather.
In many tragedies, the hero's fatal flaw leads to his downfall.
Trusting his partner was his fatal flaw; it cost him everything.
Common combinations
- a fatal flaw in
- There is a fatal flaw in your argument: you assume everyone agrees.
- the fatal flaw of
- The fatal flaw of the design was its high cost.
- suffer from a fatal flaw
- The project suffered from a fatal flaw from the beginning.
Synonyms and how they differ
- fatal weakness
- Very similar, but 'flaw' often implies a defect in design or character.
- Achilles heel
- A specific, often unexpected weakness; more idiomatic.
Opposites
Commonly confused: a fatal flaw or fatal?
a fatal flaw vs fatal
Means causing death or disaster. A 'fatal flaw' is not necessarily deadly but leads to failure.
Practice
The engineer found a fatal flaw ___ the bridge's design.
Choose one answer.
We say 'a flaw in something' when pointing to a defect inside a plan or object. 'On' is used for surfaces, 'at' for locations, 'with' would mean the flaw belongs to the design, which is less precise.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a fatal flaw”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.