foe PAW´
(French, ‘false step’)
A faux pas is an embarrassing social mistake or a breach of manners or good conduct.
Using the wrong fork at a formal dinner is a faux pas, as is asking a woman her age.
Plural: written and pronounced the same as the singular—one faux pas, two faux pas, etc.
Helen committed one faux pas after another: first, she arrived an hour late; then she addressed the Senator, whom she hardly knew, by his first name; and finally, she spilled borscht all over the white carpet.