Meaning

(idiomatic) A (small) error or mistake; a (minor) misstep..

Example Sentences

I think she will forgive an accidental slip-up, so don’t worry too much about misspeaking.

The door step was a broad unhewn rock, brought from the neighboring pasture. It had not a flat and even surface, but was considerably sloping from the door to the road, so that in icy times the scholars in passing out used to snatch from the scant declivity the transitory pleasures of a slide. But look out for a slip-up, ye careless, for many a time have I seen an urchin's head where his feet were but a second before.

Fearing to advance upon unknown grounds lest he might meet with some of those slip-ups which kill an orator dead, he waits until the question, proposed by others, has become well set forth; then, having a clear perception of the subject, he enters the lists and conducts the attack by a well-known process at the bar—that of assailing the weakest point of the enemy.

Then, Old Hugo came near a bad slip-up; though he was only one of the gipsies. He was caught 'shoving the queer' in Newark and New York.

The chess-player also has need of a quick eye and a steady nerve; [...] However, the self-possession which he requires is to be distinguished from freedom from the momentary nervous excitement which causes so many "slip-ups" in billiards.

[...] I was a little irritated with his attitude of pinpoint criticism and his habit of coming to me with reports of footling slip-ups which he could easily have set right himself or brought to the attention of the clerks concerned, [...]

And I went to the cemetery and I had the guide check the names, all of the names, I did not want any slipup.

That was a slip-up on the part of the committee. Everyone makes a mistake, and gentlemen, I hope you will not make that mistake again. Personally, I rather doubt that he [John Howard Tillotson] would have appeared in executive session even if this slip-up had not occurred, and the fact of the matter is that he did not avail himself of the opportunity when the time came.

Word Forms

• slip-ups
• slipup

Synonyms for slip-up

Related Words

When Should You Use Slip-up?

Use slip-up when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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