faux pasn.
/ˌfəʊ ˈpɑː/, U.S. /ˌfoʊ ˈpɑ/ A false step, figurative; a slip, a trip; an act which compromises one's reputation, esp. a woman's lapse from virtue. Cf. a false step at false adj. 6a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > lack of truth, falsity > an error, mistake > [noun] > serious error, blunder > embarrassing
mistread1597
directitudea1616
faux pas1676
misstep1788
gaffe1909
blooper1947
clanger1948
goof1955
1676 W. Wycherley Plain-dealer v. i Before this faux pas, this trip of mine, the world could not talk of me.
1763 Brit. Mag. 4 350 Terræ Filius..taxes them with any faux-pas, or irregularities, they may have committed.
1764 S. Foote Lyar i. ii. 15 A firework..well design'd? Sir J. Superb. Y. Wild. And happily executed? Sir J. Not a single faux pas.
1823 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto XIV lx. 145 Foreigners don't know that a faux pas In England ranks quite on a different list.
1840 R. H. Barham Some Acct. New Play in Ingoldsby Legends 1st Ser. 306 His Lordship..Conceived that his daughter had made a faux pas.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1895; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1676