hamartia \hah-mahr-TEE-uh, noun:

Tragic flaw.

What is Oedipus’ hamartia that leads to his self-fulfilling self-reversal?
— Laszlo Versényi, Man’s Measure
We called it by many different things, such as hubris or hamartia, but given the way you butcher Latin, let’s stick with English.
— Stephanie Draven, The Fever and the Fury

Hamartia stems from the Greek word hamartánein which meant “to err.” However, it entered English in the late 1800s.


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  19. itookthesesunkeneyes said: I was kind of happy when this word appeared on my email because I already knew it because of The Fault in Our Stars!
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