Cornucopia of vocabulary
Volume 1
Word 35
Faux pas
[foh pah]
Noun
a slip or blunder in etiquette, manners, or conduct
an embarrassing social blunder or indiscretion
Origin
1670s, French, literally "false step."
Synonym
Blunder; error; misjudgment; indiscretion
Usage
A public protest asking the death sentence for the criminal was a
serious faux pas as the death sentence would end the criminal but
not the crime.
But he and some of his colleagues-clearly fearful of committing a
legal faux pas -often seemed evasive.
‘I was suddenly sick in the back of their car’—it was years before
he could confess his faux pas to them