Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A social blunder.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A false step; a slip; a mistake; especially, a breach of good manners; a lapse from chastity, or any act that compromises one's reputation.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • A false step; a mistake or wrong measure

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A blunder (especially used in social contexts); a misstep.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a socially awkward or tactless act

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French : faux, false + pas, step.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the French phrase faux pas, of the same meaning; composed of faux, “false, wrong”, and pas, “step”.

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Examples

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Comments

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  • A socially embarrassing action or mistake ...or blunder?

    June 9, 2008