Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 12, 2023 is: fallible \FAL-uh-bul\ adjective

Fallible means “capable of making mistakes or being wrong.”

// We can be too hard on ourselves at times and often need gentle reminders that everyone is fallible.

[See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fallible)

Examples:

“AI is fallible. We see biased responses. ... This is because of how AI models are trained—in other words, it’s because of the data. Skewed data will lead to skewed results and misrepresentations.” — Kevin Collins, Forbes, 8 June 2023

Did you know?

“[Humanum est errare](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/humanum%20est%20errare#dictionary-entry-1)” is a Latin expression that translates as “To [err](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/err) is human.” Of course, [cynics](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cynic) might say that it is also human to deceive. The history of the word fallible simultaneously recognizes both of these character flaws. In modern usage, fallible refers to one’s ability to make mistakes, but it descends from the Latin verb fallere, which means “to deceive.” Fallible has been used to describe the potential for error since at least the 15th century. Other descendants of fallere in English, all of which actually predate fallible, include [fallacy](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fallacy) (the earliest, now obsolete, meaning was “guile, trickery”), [fault](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fault), [false](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/false), and even [fjail](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fail). Whoops, we mean fail.