To see, recognize, acknowledge, etc., the error of your ways is to admit that you have been doing something wrong or behaving badly and to stop doing it. Congress recognized the error of its ways and repealed the law. He publicly acknowledged the error of his ways and asked for forgiveness. A mistake is a wrong action made by accident, while an error is caused by a lack of knowledge. Learn the difference between mistake and error with examples. In science and engineering in general, an error is defined as a difference between the desired and actual performance or behavior of a system or object. error, mistake, blunder, slip, lapse mean a departure from what is true, right, or proper. error suggests the existence of a standard or guide and a straying from the right course through failure to make effective use of this. You’ve changed your password and tried both the app and web, but still see error -895352821. No MFA prompt appears, and other users in your organization are not affected. ERROR definition: 1. a mistake: 2. a wrong decision: 3. to understand that you were wrong to behave in a particular…. Learn more. ERROR definition: a deviation from accuracy or correctness; a mistake, as in action or speech. See examples of error used in a sentence.