SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
err
verb
To make a mistake or depart from an accepted standard.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Make a mistake
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topMiscalculate concerns an estimate or calculation; err is broader and also means depart from the right course.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See err in use
Even a careful reader can err when the instructions are ambiguous.
When a student newsletter printed the wrong room for a poetry reading, its editor chose to acknowledge the mistake as soon as a reader contacted her. She explained that even careful editors can err, but she did not use that general truth to dismiss the inconvenience.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license