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infallible

Adjective
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Incapable of making mistakes or being wrong; in poetry, this adjective attributes unerring quality to a force, idea, or character, often with a sense of divine or absolute authority, adding certainty and power.

Detailed Definition
Infallible describes something that is incapable of failing or making errors. In literature, it often conveys a sense of absolute certainty or reliability, which can be ironic when juxtaposed with human experiences of doubt and failure. The term suggests an ideal state that contrasts with the imperfections of reality.
Example
Example in poetry:
"Detail, detail, Of the infallible city of our failure, drawn to scale" (unerring, certain); "An infallible guide through the maze" (trustworthy); "The Pope's infallible decree" (religious); "Her intuition was nearly infallible" (character); "Infallible logic cannot be faulted" (rhetorical)
Additional Notes
The word 'infallible' is used to describe a city, suggesting an ideal that contrasts with the theme of failure in the poem.; Found in the poem, Detail by Genevieve Taggard
Also Known As
unerring flawless impeccable absolute
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