noun, verb ·2 syllables ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A fall onto the buttocks.
2. 2
   an embarrassing mistake wordnet
3. 3
   A humiliating mistake.
4. 4
   a fall onto your buttocks wordnet
5. 5
   A staged trip or fall, often for comedic purposes.

   "The motivational speaker started with a pratfall so he could speak about the importance of getting back up."

Verb

1. 1
   To fall on to the buttocks.

Synonyms

All synonyms

blunderbloomerbloomerblooperblooperblunder

Example

More examples

"The motivational speaker started with a pratfall so he could speak about the importance of getting back up."

Etymology

From prat + fall.

Related phrases

prat-fallenprat-fallingpratfall effect

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.