fals-, fall-

1. To be unsteady in purpose or action, as from a loss of courage or confidence; to waver: Jones was weak from hunger and his footsteps were faltering as he walked home.
2. To speak hesitatingly; to stammer; unsteadiness in speech or action: Lou's voice seemed to falter while she was speaking emotionally about her father.
3. To lose strength, power, or vitality; to move teeteringly: The effect of the woman's long illness caused her strength to falter after just a little bit of exercise.
4. To show a loss of confidence; especially, to speak or to act with hesitation: The audience could tell that the speaker was very nervous because his voice was faltering from time to time.
5. Etymology: of unknown origin, possibly from a Scandinavian source of Old Norse faltrask, "to be burdened, to hesitate, to be troubled, to fail", or of Middle English falden, "to fold" and said to be influenced by the fault element.

1. A defect or imperfection; a flaw: The fault of the accident was a result of the poor workmanship when the brakes were repaired.
2. Responsibility for a wrongful act: It is Nell's fault that the toast burned.
3. An error or a mistake: Sam was told that he made a fault when he was completing the application form!
4. In geology, a rock fracture along which movement or displacement in the plane of the fracture has taken place: The city was built on a major fault line and has always been at risk when an earthquake occurs.

In geology, a depressed area separated from the surrounding region by defects or cracks: The low farmland, or fault basin, was the result of the frequent shifts in the ground along the fault lines in their area.

Electricity that flows from a conductor to the ground or to another conductor because of something being wrong with the connections: Since there was a fault-current in the electrical system in Adam's old house, he often blew a fuse when he tried to turn on his lights.

1. A person who points out imperfections and complains about what another person does, or people do or don't do: There were often conflicts in the relationships of the couple because Sally was often more of a fault-finder.

If ever there was a faultfinder, it is Sean's aunt who is always complaining about how he looks and what he does or doesn't do.

2. An instrument designed to locate leaks in an electric current: As part of the house inspection, Sam, the engineer, used a fault-finder to detect any problems with the electrical system.
3. The systematic investigation of malfunctions in an electronic apparatus: The engineers were developing fault-finders which are instruments that could be used to guarantee the proper functioning of the computer systems which would be utilized by the new internet service providers.

Continual and usually trivial criticism: The fault-finding by Mark's boss about so many insignificant things was becoming more irritating every day.

1. In an inaccurate manner: Statements about the failure of the staff to perform their assignments were faultily attributed to their supervisor.
2. Having defects; existing erroneously, imperfectly, or improperly: The team of engineers were faultily blaming the construction workers for the delay in completing the project.

1. Having no flaws or errors; so, being perfect: Andy's ice-skating was faultless and a delight to watch.
2. Being without a blemish or a defect: The writer had the most faultless reputation as an editorial writer for the newspaper.

1. Thoroughly skilled or talented in a certain field or area; proficient: The computer programmer was faultlessly efficient and accurate with the on-line dictionary word-search results utilized by users.
2. Blameless and impeccable or being perfect: Todd faultlessly completed the complicated mathematical formula and proved his point.

1. Containing a defect or being imperfect: The faulty spelling in the otherwise outstanding essay resulted in a lower grade for the student.
2. Having problems; especially, those that cause malfunctions: The faulty wiring in the old house resulted in the fuses frequently burning and needing to be replaced.

1. A socially awkward or tactless act; a social blunder: Herman committed a faux pas by arriving much too early at the birthday party.
2. An embarrassing mistake that breaks a social convention: Craig reached out to hug the the host's wife, instead of shaking her hand, which was a faux pas because he had never met her before.
3. A slip, or blunder, in etiquette, manners, or conduct: The American committed a faux pas when he shook hands with the head of a foreign government with his left hand in his pants pocket.
4. Etymology: from French, "false step". The word faux by itself, with French pronunciation, was borrowed into English in the 1980s to mean "fake". © ALL rights are reserved.
© ALL rights are reserved.

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Someone who pretends to be innocent and who presents an attitude of simplicity: In an effort to sell his new scientific book, Jeb presented himself as a faux-naïf so the publisher would think that the contents would be easy for all readers to understand and not just sophisticated scientists.

1. Appearing, pretending, or striving to appear to be simple and unsophisticated: Mike delivered a faux-naïf description of his complicated computer programming to the university students.
2. Etymology: from French faux, "false" + naïf, "naive" or "simple".

Abnormal images; such as, photographs and videos circulating in publications, on the internet, TV, etc.: The distorted picture of the actor on the front cover of the scandal magazine appeared to be fauxtography.

Some fauxtography is real, while some have aspects that have been faked; so, photographs about public figures or events are especially worth cautious viewing.

As images and audio editing in fauxtography become easier for more people to use, whether for their own entertainment or to manipulate public perceptions, truth becomes increasingly elusive; so, people need to be more critical about what they see and hear.

A false presentation of images for ulterior reasons involving the deceptive modification and/or the addition or omission of significant contents in a picture: The newspaper was accused of showing a fauxtography picture when it touched up the actor's missing front tooth.