fat finger
Syllables: fat fin·ger/ˈfæt ˈfɪŋɡə/US/ˈfæt ˈfɪŋɡɚ/
fat finger noun: a supposed cause of typographical errors, especially keyboard errors, caused from erroneous key presses or typing errors on touchscreen devices. Also the alternative form of fat-finger.
Noun
fat finger (plural fat fingers)
- A supposed cause of typographical errors, especially keyboard errors, caused from erroneous key presses or typing errors on touchscreen devices.
- 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...2005, William Carroll, “Just Not Your Type?”, in The Untied Stats on American: And Other Computer Assisted Writing Errors, Lincoln, Neb.: iUniverse, →ISBN, page 8
- The London Stock Exchange is to enhance the measures it has in place to ensure ‘fat finger’ trades do not occur.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
Also used as
fat finger is also the alternative form of fat-finger.
Examples of fat finger in a sentence
- The first subcategory is what I choose to call Fat Fingers Syndrome.2005, William Carroll, “Just Not Your Type?”, in The Untied Stats on American: And Other Computer Assisted Writing Errors, Lincoln, Neb....
- Although it appeared to be triggered by unrest in Greece, the real cause could be a trader's "fat fingers."2010 May 6, “‘Fat fingers’ could be behind market crash”, in CTV News, Vancouver, B.C.:
- 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.2011, Jan De Spiegeleer, Wim Schoutens, “Measuring the Risk”, in The Handbook of Convertible Bonds: Pricing, Strategies and Risk...
- Maximum quantity limits help prevent human and algorithmic "fat finger" errors by enforcing the maximum order sizes and trading positions.2013, Irene Aldridge, “Regulation”, in High-frequency Trading: A Practical Guide to Algorithmic Strategies and Trading Systems (Wiley...
Forms of fat finger
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | fat fingers |
| alternative form | fat-finger |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | fat fingers |
| present participle | fat fingering |
| past participle | fat fingered |
| past | fat fingered |
Origin of fat finger
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.
Words formed from fat finger
Words that rhyme with fat finger
Questions about fat finger
- What does fat finger mean?
- Fat finger means a supposed cause of typographical errors, especially keyboard errors, caused from erroneous key presses or typing errors on touchscreen devices.
- How do you use fat finger in a sentence?
- The first subcategory is what I choose to call Fat Fingers Syndrome.
- What part of speech is fat finger?
- Fat finger is a noun.
- How do you pronounce fat finger?
- Fat finger is pronounced /ˈfæt ˈfɪŋɡə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of fat finger?
- The plural of fat finger is fat fingers.
Words near fat finger in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: fat finger (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-fat finger.wav.
Cite this entry: “fat finger.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/fat_finger. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.