千せん慮りょ一いっ失しつ

also: せんりょのいっしつ

Meanings

a slip by a wise person; a mistake even the cautious make

A yojijukugo meaning that even a person of great wisdom and care can make a small oversight. Often used to excuse a minor error or to note that nobody is perfect.

彼かれの失しっ敗ぱいは千せん慮りょ一いっ失しつというべきだろう。
His mistake should be called a mere slip by a wise person.
千せん慮りょ一いっ失しつで、ベテラン社しゃ員いんが簡かん単たんなミスをした。
Even a veteran employee made a simple mistake, a case of a wise man's oversight.

Kanji

千thousand
慮prudence, thought, concern
一one, one radical (no.1)
失lose, error, fault

Related words

猿さるも木きから落おちる
A proverb meaning 'even monkeys fall from trees,' used for anyone making a mistake despite expertise. 千慮一失 is more formal and specifically about a thoughtful person's rare slip.
弘こう法ぼうにも筆ふでの誤あやまり
Another proverb meaning 'even Kobo Daishi makes brush mistakes,' emphasizing that masters can err. 千慮一失 is a compact yojijukugo with a similar nuance.

Built from

千せん慮りょ+一いっ失しつ

Written forms

千慮一失
- せんりょいっしつ
  Standard kanji form for this yojijukugo.
- せんりょのいっしつ
千せん慮りょの一いっ失しつ
Variant with の inserted; slightly more explicit but less common as a set phrase.
せんりょのいっしつ

Etymology

From Chinese classical literature, combining 千慮 (a thousand considerations) and 一失 (one mistake). The phrase suggests that even after much thought, an error can occur.