🇰🇷Korean Source WordCode: KO

치명적 결함

Pronunciation / Transliteration: chimyeongjeok gyeolham

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Fatal flaw/ˈfeɪ.təl flɔː/
nounCEFR C1 (Advanced)Top #14500 frequency
Full Thesaurus
🇰🇷 Example Sentence in Korean:

"그 계획에는 프로젝트를 망칠 치명적 결함이 있었다."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    A critical weakness or shortcoming in a person's character that leads to their downfall.

    "His overwhelming pride proved to be his fatal flaw, ultimately costing him his career and reputation."
  2. 2

    A fundamental defect in a system, plan, or design that inevitably causes it to fail.

    "Engineers discovered a fatal flaw in the bridge's suspension design during stress testing."

Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

The term combines 'fatal', originating from the Latin 'fatalis' (destined, ordained by fate, or causing death/destruction), with 'flaw', derived from Old Norse 'flaga' (slab, flake) or Middle English roots meaning a crack or breach. Historically rooted in literary criticism (such as the concept of the tragic flaw or 'hamartia'), it has evolved into common usage to describe any crucial weakness that causes a plan, system, or character to fail.

Quick Vocabulary Retention Check

Which of the following is the closest synonym for "Fatal flaw"?

Thesaurus & Synonyms Graph

Explore Nuanced Synonyms for "Fatal flaw"

Discover exact matches, context-specific alternatives, and antonyms with intensity ratings in the VocabDictionary Thesaurus.

View "Fatal flaw" Synonym Map