faux pas

Definition

An embarrassing or tactless blunder.

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French faux pas (“faux pas, blunder; misstep, false step”).

Example Sentences

• "Now my dear Lady Teazle if you but once make a trifling Faux Pas you can't conceive how cautious you would grow, and how ready to humour and agree with your Husband."
• "A saint after repentance will forgive himself for a sin; a man about town will never forgive himself for a faux pas."
• "He was also prone to faux pas, none as memorable as his 2014 secret escapade from the Élysée. He was captured in full-faced helmet on the back of a motor scooter on his way to meet his mistress, the actress Julie Gayet, who is now his wife."