Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The quality of being infallible, or incapable of error or mistake; entire exemption from liability to error.
  • noun Incapability of failure; absolute certainty of success or effect: as, the infallibility of a remedy.

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

  • noun The quality or state of being infallible, or exempt from error; inerrability.
  • noun (R. C. Ch.) the dogma that the pope can not, when acting in his official character of supreme pontiff, err in defining a doctrine of Christian faith or rule of morals, to be held by the church. This was decreed by the Ecumenical Council at the Vatican, July 18, 1870.

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

  • noun The property of being infallible; the ability to never make a mistake.

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

  • noun the quality of never making an error

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Mormons don't use the term "infallibility" to refer to their leaders and readily acknowledge that they are imperfect men.

    Mormon president can do no wrong to religion's members 2011

  • Mormons don't use the term "infallibility" to refer to their leaders and readily acknowledge that they are imperfect men.

    Mormon president can do no wrong to religion's members 2011

  • Mormons don't use the term "infallibility" to refer to their leaders and readily acknowledge that they are imperfect men.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com The Huffington Post News Editors 2011

  • I don't consider the Pope a cult leader (though Papal infallibility is not an idea that particularly appeals to me), but there are Cultish aspects to Catholicism.

    Cult scene: New Zealand and Africa - Boing Boing 2009

  • Claiming infallibility is almost always the hallmark of the monumentally arrogant (and by default the profoundly insecure).

    Think Progress » Rush Lies Again: ‘There Were Union Workers’ At Non-Union Mine Explosion 2010

  • They tend to believe in infallibility, with respect to themselves.

    Like You, Sarah Palin Loves Moose Hunting Dave Hurteau 2008

  • I don't know if he's quite that reckless ... or stupid, but his adoration of all things self and his delusional infallibility is going to be the death of his lucky stumble towards 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

    “The Mouth That Roared” 2008

  • I don't know if he's quite that reckless ... or stupid, but his adoration of all things self and his delusional infallibility is going to be the death of his lucky stumble towards 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

    Archive 2008-03-01 2008

  • Papal infallibility is one of the main Protestant objections to Catholicism — yet, oddly enough, it was one of the things that gave Catholicism an unlikely avant-garde cachet from around the time of Pius IX's proclamation to, say, World War II.

    Archive 2007-12-01 Matthew Guerrieri 2007

  • Papal infallibility is one of the main Protestant objections to Catholicism — yet, oddly enough, it was one of the things that gave Catholicism an unlikely avant-garde cachet from around the time of Pius IX's proclamation to, say, World War II.

    High church Matthew Guerrieri 2007

Comments

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  • "says don't let the imperfections of others dissuade you from believing in your own infallibility."

    - "YouLookGreat", on Twitter

    May 19, 2009