Meanings
plural slips of the pen
- idiomaticA mistake in handwriting; (loosely) any minor error by the writer that made it into print, having not been caught by editors or proofreaders.
Near-synonyms: writo; misprint; miswriting; typo
1 more example
There are one or two slips of the pen—L.S.W.R. trains did not run through Ludgate Hill, for instance—[...].
1961 December, “New reading on railways: The South Eastern & Chatham Railway. By O. S. Nock”, in Trains Illustrated, page 768Synonyms: lapsus calami, lapsus plumæ, writo, misprint, miswriting, typo
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA mistake in handwriting; (loosely) any minor error by the writer that made it into print, having not been caught by editors or proofreaders.
Translations
Bulgarian правописна грешка
- правописна грешка (pravopisna greška)mistake in handwriting
Chinese Mandarin 筆誤 /笔误
- 筆誤 /笔误 (bǐwù)mistake in handwriting
Finnish kirjoitusvirhe
- kirjoitusvirhemistake in handwriting
German Schreibfehler
- Schreibfehlermistake in handwriting
Icelandic pennaglöp, ritvilla
- pennaglöpmistake in handwriting
- ritvillamistake in handwriting
- slæm ritvillamistake in handwriting
Latin lapsus calami
- lapsus calamimistake in handwriting
Norwegian Bokmål skrivefeil
- skrivefeilmistake in handwriting
Polish literówka
- literówkamistake in handwriting
Russian опи́ска
- опи́ска (opíska)mistake in handwriting
Vietnamese viết nhịu
- viết nhịumistake in handwriting
Cite this entry
slip of the pen. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/slip%20of%20the%20pen
“slip of the pen.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/slip%20of%20the%20pen. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “slip of the pen,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/slip%20of%20the%20pen.
Source: slip of the pen on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.