howler
1
7.2
- noun
- /ˈhaʊlər/
- Informal
- I still make some howlers (RIMM, TBT, TRGT), but I play the percentages, and my winners outdistance my losers.
Examples
-
Let me conclude on what, for my money, this is Sarkar's biggest howler:
Blog text (16) -
Second major howler: we are not considering the lump of clay before it was made into a statue (when it looked like a lump!) but only after.
Blog text (17) -
"A real howler," he said.
Blog text (5) -
First major howler: two red balls, which have all their attributes in common, are still two red balls, not one!
Blog text (17) -
But to argue that the Union failed to "forgive and reconcile with the South" is a howler of the first order.
Blog text (34) -
Back in the pre-Internet era, I remember even bigger howlers in these textbooks.
Blog text (15) -
"Social science and policy research literature, to be sure, has committed a fair share of howlers during the past century, but this may be the single most empirically challenged sentence of the new millennium."
Academic text (2010) -
I was inspired to write a whole post about it after coming across a howler on a writing forum—a message about "bringing out emotions in copywriting."
Blog text (24) -
To compound Romney’s idiocy, his assertion that he’d rather have the private sector administer disaster responses is truly a howler.
Blog text (15) -
He made a howler when he mistakenly identified the capital of Canada as Ottawa instead of Toronto.
Synonyms
47
7.7
A remark or action made by accident that is embarrassing
45
3.0
A careless mistake that causes embarrassment or problems
34
6.1
A careless mistake that causes problems or embarrassment
16
3.5
A small silly mistake that causes embarrassment or laughter
12
6.1
An embarrassing mistake that happens in public or during a show
9
3.5
A small mistake that causes embarrassment
7
8.2
A silly or embarrassing mistake
5
7.7
A serious, embarrassing mistake often caused by confusion or poor planning
5
7.7
An embarrassing mistake made when someone is careless or nervous
2
7.6
An embarrassing mistake that happens because of bad or careless work
1
8.7
An embarrassing mistake someone makes in public
1
6.7
An embarrassing mistake that shows you were careless
1
6.5
A small mistake that causes embarrassment or trouble
1
8.5
A big embarrassing mistake that other people notice
1
7.5
A joke or mistake that makes people laugh a lot
A short embarrassing mistake you make
Antonyms
Compounds
2
3.8
A large monkey from Central and South American forests that makes very loud calls
How Serious
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Howler meaning a glaring mistake is easy to remember: think of a loud howl ('a loud cry') — a howler is a blunder so big that people notice it and react loudly or laugh at it.