Bad / Mistake

verb

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bungle - To carry out a task clumsily or incompetently, leading to failure or an unsatisfactory outcome

The painter bungled his job when he misspelled the word on the road sign.

adjective

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inadvertent - Not deliberately planned or intended.

He made an inadvertent mistake by sending the email to the wrong person.

noun

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boondoggle - Work or activity that is wasteful or pointless but gives the appearance of having value

When the funds dried up before the bridge could be finished, it turned into an expensive boondoggle that couldn't transport anybody.

noun

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mixup - An error resulting from things being wrongly arranged or identified.

There was a mix-up at the airport, and my luggage went to the wrong city.

noun

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glitch - A sudden, unexpected, and usually temporary malfunction of equipment such as a computer

The space shuttle take-off was canceled with 2 seconds left in the countdown, due to a glitch discovered in the fuel supply.

verb

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fizzle - To finish in a way that is disappointing

At the start of his race for mayor it looked like Fred was going to win, but his many verbal mistakes caused his candidacy to just fizzle out.

noun

See verb

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audio

fumble - An act of using the hands clumsily while doing or handling something

Owen made a major fumble on his date when he knocked over his glass of wine.

noun

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futility - the quality being ineffective, useless, unsuccessful, and achieving nothing.

Elon Musk confronted the common attitude regarding the futility of going to Mars, and is proving them wrong.

noun

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misconception - A wrong and often widespread assumption based on faulty thinking or lack of information.

There’s a common misconception that bats are blind.

noun

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blunder - A stupid or careless mistake

Emma realized she had made a huge blunder when she accidentally deleted the entire spreadsheet.

noun

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dud - A thing that fails to work properly or is otherwise unsatisfactory or worthless

The firework turned out to be a dud when it landed back on the ground.

adjective

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erroneous - Misleading or false in belief, statement, or action.

Relying on erroneous data can lead to poor decisions in business.