"fat finger" meaning in English

See fat finger in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈfæt ˈfɪŋɡə/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈfæt ˈfɪŋɡɚ/ [General-American] Forms: fat fingers [plural]
Rhymes: -ɪŋɡə(ɹ) Etymology: From the idea that a finger that is too fat or large is likely to accidentally press one or more keys other than the intended one. Head templates: {{en-noun}} fat finger (plural fat fingers)
  1. (idiomatic, humorous, informal, also attributively) A supposed cause of typographical errors, especially keyboard errors, caused from erroneous key presses or typing errors on touchscreen devices. Tags: also, attributive, humorous, idiomatic, informal Synonyms: fat-finger Derived forms: fat-fingered Translations (supposed cause of typographical errors): pølsefinger [common-gender] (Danish), pølsefinger [masculine] (Norwegian Bokmål), debeli prst [masculine] (Serbo-Croatian), korvfinger [neuter] (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-fat_finger-en-noun-IsZeUKWR Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 75 25

Verb

IPA: /ˈfæt ˈfɪŋɡə/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈfæt ˈfɪŋɡɚ/ [General-American] Forms: fat fingers [present, singular, third-person], fat fingering [participle, present], fat fingered [participle, past], fat fingered [past]
Rhymes: -ɪŋɡə(ɹ) Etymology: From the idea that a finger that is too fat or large is likely to accidentally press one or more keys other than the intended one. Head templates: {{en-verb}} fat finger (third-person singular simple present fat fingers, present participle fat fingering, simple past and past participle fat fingered)
  1. Alternative form of fat-finger (“to type (something) erroneously on a keyboard, keypad, or touchscreen by accidentally pressing with a finger one or more keys other than the intended one”) Tags: alt-of, alternative Alternative form of: fat-finger (extra: (“to type (something) erroneously on a keyboard, keypad, or touchscreen by accidentally pressing with a finger one or more keys other than the intended one”)) Related terms: dactylitis [medicine, sciences]
    Sense id: en-fat_finger-en-verb-uqH-cJX2

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for fat finger meaning in English (8.1kB)

{
  "etymology_text": "From the idea that a finger that is too fat or large is likely to accidentally press one or more keys other than the intended one.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "fat fingers",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "fat finger (plural fat fingers)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "fat"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "75 25",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "fat-fingered"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2005, William Carroll, “Just Not Your Type?”, in The Untied Stats on American: And Other Computer Assisted Writing Errors, Lincoln, Neb.: iUniverse, page 8",
          "text": "The first subcategory is what I choose to call Fat Fingers Syndrome. This is a problem obviously caused by poor typing techniques which result in a single finger striking two keys instead of one. [...] The opposite of the fat finger problem is what I call simply the Missed Key(s). This can also result in the writing of real (but wrong) words, such as \"rod\" for rode or \"trace\" for trance.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006 December 25, James Quinn, “LSE moves to nail ‘fat finger’ deals”, in John Bryant, editor, The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC",
          "text": "The London Stock Exchange is to enhance the measures it has in place to ensure ‘fat finger’ trades do not occur.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010 May 6, “‘Fat fingers’ could be behind market crash”, in CTV News, Vancouver, B.C.",
          "text": "Although it appeared to be triggered by unrest in Greece, the real cause could be a trader's \"fat fingers.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010 May 7, “Fear itself the problem as Greece’s woes have yet to spread”, in The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, N.S.W.: Nine Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC",
          "text": "The Securities and Exchange Commission is on the case, pursuing a lead that a \"fat finger\" keystroke error on a trade in Procter & Gamble, one of the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, turned a trade of millions into a trade of billions.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Jan De Spiegeleer, Wim Schoutens, “Measuring the Risk”, in The Handbook of Convertible Bonds: Pricing, Strategies and Risk Management, part III (Risk Management and Strategies), Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, Operational Risk (section 9.3.9), page 250",
          "text": "A typical operational risk that needs to be countered is the ‘fat finger’ where, in stressful and fast-moving markets, a trader might key in a wrong order. There are numerous examples where such an order moved the market and generated a loss for the executing firm. A fat finger limit will prevent a portfolio manager keying in a trade with a size beyond a particular trigger level.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013, Irene Aldridge, “Regulation”, in High-frequency Trading: A Practical Guide to Algorithmic Strategies and Trading Systems (Wiley Trading Series), 2nd edition, Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, page 217",
          "text": "Maximum quantity limits help prevent human and algorithmic \"fat finger\" errors by enforcing the maximum order sizes and trading positions.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014, Lucy Diamond [pseudonym; Sue Mongredien], One Night in Italy, London: Pan Books, published 2016, page 419",
          "text": "Someone with fat fingers pressed a wrong number is my guess. I suppose I'd better give them a ring and fess up.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014, Jesse Feiler, “What Makes a Great iOS App”, in iOS App Development for Dummies (For Dummies), Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, part 1 (Getting Started), page 22",
          "text": "Still, due to fat fingers, user-interface elements need to be large enough and spaced far apart enough so that users' fingers can find their way around the interface comfortably.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015 May, Alex Archer, chapter 6, in Day of Atonement (Rogue Angel; a Gold Eagle Book), Don Mills, Ont.: Worldwide Library, page 45",
          "text": "I must have dialed the wrong number. Fat fingers and all that.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A supposed cause of typographical errors, especially keyboard errors, caused from erroneous key presses or typing errors on touchscreen devices."
      ],
      "id": "en-fat_finger-en-noun-IsZeUKWR",
      "links": [
        [
          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ],
        [
          "supposed",
          "supposed#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "cause",
          "cause#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "typographical",
          "typographical"
        ],
        [
          "error",
          "error"
        ],
        [
          "keyboard",
          "keyboard"
        ],
        [
          "erroneous",
          "erroneous"
        ],
        [
          "key",
          "key"
        ],
        [
          "typing",
          "type#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "touchscreen",
          "touchscreen"
        ],
        [
          "device",
          "device"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, humorous, informal, also attributively) A supposed cause of typographical errors, especially keyboard errors, caused from erroneous key presses or typing errors on touchscreen devices."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "fat-finger"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "also",
        "attributive",
        "humorous",
        "idiomatic",
        "informal"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "supposed cause of typographical errors",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "pølsefinger"
        },
        {
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "supposed cause of typographical errors",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "pølsefinger"
        },
        {
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "supposed cause of typographical errors",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "debeli prst"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "supposed cause of typographical errors",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "korvfinger"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfæt ˈfɪŋɡə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfæt ˈfɪŋɡɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪŋɡə(ɹ)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "fat finger"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "From the idea that a finger that is too fat or large is likely to accidentally press one or more keys other than the intended one.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "fat fingers",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "fat fingering",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "fat fingered",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "fat fingered",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "fat finger (third-person singular simple present fat fingers, present participle fat fingering, simple past and past participle fat fingered)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "fat"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "extra": "(“to type (something) erroneously on a keyboard, keypad, or touchscreen by accidentally pressing with a finger one or more keys other than the intended one”)",
          "word": "fat-finger"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2015, Brad Williams, David Damstra, Hal Stern, “Securing WordPress”, in Professional WordPress: Design and Development, 3rd edition, Indianapolis, Ind.: Wrox Press, John Wiley & Sons, page 371",
          "text": "Slowing down the number of login attempts before an IP address is blocked reduces the attractiveness of your site to an automatic attack script. Note that generally these offer temporary IP address blocking, so that valid users who accidentally fat finger their password have an opportunity to log in after the ban has expired.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of fat-finger (“to type (something) erroneously on a keyboard, keypad, or touchscreen by accidentally pressing with a finger one or more keys other than the intended one”)"
      ],
      "id": "en-fat_finger-en-verb-uqH-cJX2",
      "links": [
        [
          "fat-finger",
          "fat-finger#English"
        ],
        [
          "type",
          "type#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "erroneously",
          "erroneously"
        ],
        [
          "keyboard",
          "keyboard#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "keypad",
          "keypad"
        ],
        [
          "touchscreen",
          "touchscreen"
        ],
        [
          "accidentally",
          "accidentally"
        ],
        [
          "pressing",
          "press#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "finger",
          "finger#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "keys",
          "key#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "intended",
          "intended#Adjective"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "topics": [
            "medicine",
            "sciences"
          ],
          "word": "dactylitis"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfæt ˈfɪŋɡə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfæt ˈfɪŋɡɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪŋɡə(ɹ)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "fat finger"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English verbs",
    "Rhymes:English/ɪŋɡə(ɹ)",
    "Rhymes:English/ɪŋɡə(ɹ)/3 syllables"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "fat-fingered"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From the idea that a finger that is too fat or large is likely to accidentally press one or more keys other than the intended one.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "fat fingers",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "fat finger (plural fat fingers)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "fat"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English humorous terms",
        "English idioms",
        "English informal terms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2005, William Carroll, “Just Not Your Type?”, in The Untied Stats on American: And Other Computer Assisted Writing Errors, Lincoln, Neb.: iUniverse, page 8",
          "text": "The first subcategory is what I choose to call Fat Fingers Syndrome. This is a problem obviously caused by poor typing techniques which result in a single finger striking two keys instead of one. [...] The opposite of the fat finger problem is what I call simply the Missed Key(s). This can also result in the writing of real (but wrong) words, such as \"rod\" for rode or \"trace\" for trance.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006 December 25, James Quinn, “LSE moves to nail ‘fat finger’ deals”, in John Bryant, editor, The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC",
          "text": "The London Stock Exchange is to enhance the measures it has in place to ensure ‘fat finger’ trades do not occur.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010 May 6, “‘Fat fingers’ could be behind market crash”, in CTV News, Vancouver, B.C.",
          "text": "Although it appeared to be triggered by unrest in Greece, the real cause could be a trader's \"fat fingers.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010 May 7, “Fear itself the problem as Greece’s woes have yet to spread”, in The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, N.S.W.: Nine Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC",
          "text": "The Securities and Exchange Commission is on the case, pursuing a lead that a \"fat finger\" keystroke error on a trade in Procter & Gamble, one of the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, turned a trade of millions into a trade of billions.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Jan De Spiegeleer, Wim Schoutens, “Measuring the Risk”, in The Handbook of Convertible Bonds: Pricing, Strategies and Risk Management, part III (Risk Management and Strategies), Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, Operational Risk (section 9.3.9), page 250",
          "text": "A typical operational risk that needs to be countered is the ‘fat finger’ where, in stressful and fast-moving markets, a trader might key in a wrong order. There are numerous examples where such an order moved the market and generated a loss for the executing firm. A fat finger limit will prevent a portfolio manager keying in a trade with a size beyond a particular trigger level.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013, Irene Aldridge, “Regulation”, in High-frequency Trading: A Practical Guide to Algorithmic Strategies and Trading Systems (Wiley Trading Series), 2nd edition, Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, page 217",
          "text": "Maximum quantity limits help prevent human and algorithmic \"fat finger\" errors by enforcing the maximum order sizes and trading positions.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014, Lucy Diamond [pseudonym; Sue Mongredien], One Night in Italy, London: Pan Books, published 2016, page 419",
          "text": "Someone with fat fingers pressed a wrong number is my guess. I suppose I'd better give them a ring and fess up.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014, Jesse Feiler, “What Makes a Great iOS App”, in iOS App Development for Dummies (For Dummies), Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, part 1 (Getting Started), page 22",
          "text": "Still, due to fat fingers, user-interface elements need to be large enough and spaced far apart enough so that users' fingers can find their way around the interface comfortably.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015 May, Alex Archer, chapter 6, in Day of Atonement (Rogue Angel; a Gold Eagle Book), Don Mills, Ont.: Worldwide Library, page 45",
          "text": "I must have dialed the wrong number. Fat fingers and all that.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A supposed cause of typographical errors, especially keyboard errors, caused from erroneous key presses or typing errors on touchscreen devices."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ],
        [
          "supposed",
          "supposed#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "cause",
          "cause#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "typographical",
          "typographical"
        ],
        [
          "error",
          "error"
        ],
        [
          "keyboard",
          "keyboard"
        ],
        [
          "erroneous",
          "erroneous"
        ],
        [
          "key",
          "key"
        ],
        [
          "typing",
          "type#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "touchscreen",
          "touchscreen"
        ],
        [
          "device",
          "device"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, humorous, informal, also attributively) A supposed cause of typographical errors, especially keyboard errors, caused from erroneous key presses or typing errors on touchscreen devices."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "also",
        "attributive",
        "humorous",
        "idiomatic",
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfæt ˈfɪŋɡə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfæt ˈfɪŋɡɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪŋɡə(ɹ)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "fat-finger"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "supposed cause of typographical errors",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "pølsefinger"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "supposed cause of typographical errors",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "pølsefinger"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "supposed cause of typographical errors",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "debeli prst"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "supposed cause of typographical errors",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "korvfinger"
    }
  ],
  "word": "fat finger"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English verbs",
    "Rhymes:English/ɪŋɡə(ɹ)",
    "Rhymes:English/ɪŋɡə(ɹ)/3 syllables"
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From the idea that a finger that is too fat or large is likely to accidentally press one or more keys other than the intended one.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "fat fingers",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "fat fingering",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "fat fingered",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "fat fingered",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "fat finger (third-person singular simple present fat fingers, present participle fat fingering, simple past and past participle fat fingered)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "fat"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "topics": [
        "medicine",
        "sciences"
      ],
      "word": "dactylitis"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "extra": "(“to type (something) erroneously on a keyboard, keypad, or touchscreen by accidentally pressing with a finger one or more keys other than the intended one”)",
          "word": "fat-finger"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2015, Brad Williams, David Damstra, Hal Stern, “Securing WordPress”, in Professional WordPress: Design and Development, 3rd edition, Indianapolis, Ind.: Wrox Press, John Wiley & Sons, page 371",
          "text": "Slowing down the number of login attempts before an IP address is blocked reduces the attractiveness of your site to an automatic attack script. Note that generally these offer temporary IP address blocking, so that valid users who accidentally fat finger their password have an opportunity to log in after the ban has expired.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of fat-finger (“to type (something) erroneously on a keyboard, keypad, or touchscreen by accidentally pressing with a finger one or more keys other than the intended one”)"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "fat-finger",
          "fat-finger#English"
        ],
        [
          "type",
          "type#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "erroneously",
          "erroneously"
        ],
        [
          "keyboard",
          "keyboard#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "keypad",
          "keypad"
        ],
        [
          "touchscreen",
          "touchscreen"
        ],
        [
          "accidentally",
          "accidentally"
        ],
        [
          "pressing",
          "press#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "finger",
          "finger#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "keys",
          "key#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "intended",
          "intended#Adjective"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfæt ˈfɪŋɡə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfæt ˈfɪŋɡɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪŋɡə(ɹ)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "fat finger"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.