pratfall

IPA/ˈprætfɔːl/
KK[prˈætfˌɔl]IPA/ˈprætfɔːl/

pratfall — noun

  • pratfallsingular
  • pratfallsplural

1. a deliberate, clumsy fall backwards onto one's bottom, performed on stage or scr

1.名詞B2
釋義

a deliberate, clumsy fall backwards onto one's bottom, performed on stage or screen to get laughs from an audience

例句

The clown took an exaggerated pratfall and the children in the front row shrieked with laughter.

collocation: take a pratfall / exaggerated pratfall

Elena landed in a perfect pratfall after slipping on a banana peel during the school play.

collocation: perfect pratfall

同義詞
  • tumble

    a more general word for any clumsy fall, not necessarily theatrical or deliberate

  • slapstick

    the broader style of physical comedy that pratfalls are part of

用法筆記

Specifically a theatrical technique — a planned, exaggerated fall for comic effect. Not used for an ordinary accidental slip or trip.

常見錯誤

❌He took a pratfall on the icy pavement outside his house.
✅He slipped and fell on the icy pavement outside his house.
💡a pratfall is a deliberate comic act, not an accidental fall on a street.

2. a public mistake or failure that makes the person involved look foolish, especia

2.名詞B2
釋義

a public mistake or failure that makes the person involved look foolish, especially after they appeared confident or successful

例句

The CEO's speech about honesty turned into a pratfall when reporters uncovered years of hidden fraud.

collocation: turn into a pratfall

Anong's speech to the visiting professors became a pratfall when she got the dean's name wrong.

同義詞
  • blunder

    a careless mistake, less vivid and less focused on public humiliation

  • gaffe

    a social or verbal slip, often by a public figure

  • fiasco

    a complete and humiliating failure, usually of a planned event or undertaking

  • debacle

    a sudden, disastrous collapse; more formal and larger in scale than pratfall

反義詞
  • triumph

    a great success or victory, the opposite of a humiliating failure

用法筆記

Always implies a public audience — the embarrassment comes from others witnessing the failure. Common in journalism and political writing. Distinguish from sense 1, which refers to a physical comic fall.

常見錯誤

❌I had a pratfall during my private piano lesson.
✅I made an embarrassing mistake during my private piano lesson.
💡pratfall implies other people saw the failure; it is not used for private blunders.