fatal flaw
Hero's tragic undoing
A fatal flaw is a defect serious enough to cause failure or destruction.
The term originates in tragedy, where a hero's fatal flaw—pride, jealousy, ambition—leads to their downfall.
The phrase now applies broadly: The fatal flaw in their plan was assuming good weather.
A fatal flaw isn't merely a weakness; it's the one that proves decisive.
- hamartiaFatal error causing downfall
- hubrisRuinous excessive confidence
- ruinComplete destruction or collapse
- downfallSudden loss of power
- fall from graceLoss of status or reputation
tragic hero · catharsis · arrogance · ate · point of no return · blindspot · tragic downfall · miscalculation · self-inflicted wound · vulnerability · Greek tragedy · oversight · Shakespearean drama · naivety · self-deception · cowardice · greed · Achilles' heel
- tragedytragedy, tragic hero, tragic heroes, tragic irony, catharsis
- fatal flawshubris, hamartia, Achilles heel, overconfidence, arrogance
- Julius CaesarJulius Caesar, Caesar, Brutus, Cassius, Marc Antony
- literary deathdeath scene, deathbed, dying, corpse, funeral
- literary idiomscatch-22, red herring, white whale, chapter and verse, by the book
- story archetypeshero, villain, mentor, trickster, quest
fatal flawsaving grace
Compensating good quality
redeeming quality · core strength · secret weapon · trump card · strong suit
fatal flawcore competency
Primary business strength
trump card · secret weapon · ace in the hole · strong suit · gift
fatal flawperfection
Absence of any fault
flawlessness · soundness · integrity · faultlessness · wholeness
fate, flaw, fatal, flawless, flawed, flaws, fatality, fatalism, fatally