Definition

1. Noun:
   • An embarrassing mistake: A "pratfall" is a humiliating blunder or failure, often in a public or professional context.
   • A fall onto your buttocks: Literally, a "pratfall" is a comedic or clumsy fall where a person lands on their rear end.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Embarrassing Mistake):

  • His offensive comment during the live broadcast was a major pratfall for the network.
  • The company's failure to test the software was a costly pratfall.

• Noun (Physical Fall):

  • The comedian slipped on a banana peel and took a classic pratfall.
  • I took a nasty pratfall on the icy sidewalk.

Advanced Usage

• The term is often used metaphorically to describe a figurative "fall from grace" or a public failure, not just a physical tumble.
  • The senator's career never recovered from the political pratfall of that scandal.

Variants and Related Words

• Prat (noun, informal): A person who is foolish or easily tricked. (Note: This is the "prat" in "pratfall").
• Faux pas (noun): A socially awkward or tactless act (a synonym for the mistake meaning).

Synonyms

• Blunder: A stupid or careless mistake.
• Gaffe: An unintentional act or remark causing social embarrassment.
• Spill (noun, informal): A fall, especially from a horse or bicycle.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• To take a pratfall: To suffer an embarrassing mistake or failure.
  • The promising startup took a pratfall when its main investor pulled out.

Noun

1. an embarrassing mistake
2. a fall onto your buttocks