flawed
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of flawed
Explanation
Things that are flawed are less than perfect. A flawed dinner plate might have a small chip in it, and a flawed English paper includes at least one mistake. Flawed objects have some kind of imperfection — a dent or a blemish. No one's perfect, so everyone is flawed in some way, but when this word describes a person it often means "weak in character."A Shakespearian flawed hero has some flaw or foible that will ultimately be his undoing: in other words, a "fatal flaw." Flawed comes from flaw, originally "a flake of snow," later "a splinter," and finally "an imperfection."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The club said in a statement they were "clear in the belief the ruling is fundamentally flawed in both law and fact".
From BBC • Jun. 10, 2026
I asked Bores what he thought of it, and he said the premise was flawed, saying it’s the framing desired by the groups that want to sink his candidacy.
From Slate • Jun. 2, 2026
But you would have to be incredibly ignorant to believe that the accumulated genius of America won’t survive a flawed president or three, or a bout of cultural self-loathing,
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 1, 2026
The breathless rally seen this year among semiconductor and memory stocks may be based on a flawed understanding of company AI usage.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 1, 2026
I want you to know that we’re all flawed, he said.
From "Harbor Me" by Jacqueline Woodson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
