faux pas

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faux pas

/ˌfəʊ ˈpɑː/ UK, singular
/ˌfəʊ ˈpɑːz/ UK, plural
/ˌfoʊ ˈpɑ/ US, singular
/ˌfoʊ ˈpɑz/ US, plural

Where it comes from

Unadapted borrowing from French faux pas (“faux pas, blunder; misstep, false step”).

noun faux pas · faux pas's

An embarrassing or tactless blunder. Now my dear Lady Teazle if you but once make a trifling Faux Pas you can't conceive how cautious you would grow, and how ready to humour and agree with your Husband.
Similar: misstep, mistake, blunder, aberration, bloomer, blooper, boner, boo-boo, break, clanger, cock-up, disadventure

verb faux pas'ing · faux pas'ed

nonstandard, rare To commit a faux pas; to blunder.

Translations

Every language

noun an embarrassing or tactless blunder

Español	metida de pata, metedura de pata
日本語	過失 kashitsu
中文	失禮 /失礼 shīlǐ, 失態 /失态 shītài, 失足 shīzú, 過失 /过失 guòshī, 失誤 /失误 shīwù
Português	passo em falso
Français	faux pas, impair, gaffe, bourde
Deutsch	Fauxpas
Italiano	passo falso
Русский	беста́ктность bestáktnostʹ, некраси́вый посту́пок nekrasívyj postúpok, просту́пок prostúpok, опло́шность oplóšnostʹ, ло́жный шаг lóžnyj šag
Tiếng Việt	thất lễ

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MLA

"faux pas." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/faux%20pas. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

faux pas. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/faux%20pas

Chicago

"faux pas." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/faux%20pas.

BibTeX

@misc{faux_pas_2026,
  title = {faux pas},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/faux%20pas},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}