失足

shīzú
  1. to lose one's footing
  2. to slip
  3. to take a wrong step in life

CEDICT

  1. to lose one's footing; to slip; to misstep
  2. to take a wrong step in life; (of a youngster) to commit a crime; (of a woman) to prostitute oneself

Wiktionary

  1. 舉止不莊重。
  2. 走路不小心而摔倒。《五代漢．王定保．唐摭言．卷九．誤掇惡名》：「楊篆員外，乾符中佐永寧劉丞相淮南幕，因遊江失足墜水。」清．和邦額《夜譚隨錄．卷一．碧碧》：「少年遑遽，極力擠之，孫猝不及防，失足墜岩下。」也作「失腳」。
  3. 因不慎而墮落、失節或誤入歧途。

重編國語辭典

Entry Composition

1 失 shī
  1. to lose
  2. to miss
  3. to fail
2 足 zú
  1. (bound form) foot; leg
  2. sufficient; ample
  3. as much as; fully

Containing this entry

一失足成千古恨 yīshīzúchéngqiāngǔhèn a single slip may cause everlasting sorrow (idiom)
一失足成千古風流人物 yīshīzúchéngqiāngǔfēngliúrénwù

Related entries

踩失腳 cǎishījiǎo to lose one's footing
出溜 chūliu
  1. to slip
  2. to slide
滑移 huáyí
  1. to slip
  2. to drift
蹉跎 cuōtuó
  1. (literary) to slip
  2. (of looks etc) to fade away
  3. (of time) to slip away
  4. to squander (time, opportunities); to dillydally
轉差 zhuǎnchā
  1. to slip (e.g. of clutch)
  2. slippage
  3. also used of economic indicators, statistical discrepancies etc
打滑 dǎhuá
  1. to skid
  2. to slip
  3. to slide
踜 lèng
  1. to stumble
  2. to slip
  3. to fall
蹉 cuō
  1. to error
  2. to slip
  3. to miss
  4. to err
躂 dā
  1. to stumble
  2. to slip
  3. variant of 達 dá
打趔趄 dǎlièqie
  1. to trip
  2. to miss a step
  3. to slip
誤入歧途 wùrùqítú
  1. to take a wrong step in life (idiom)
  2. to go astray
问路总比误入歧途好。

Better to ask the way than go astray.

Source: Tatoeba