- _Football
A howler is “a glaring, often comical” error by a player, usually made by “a goalkeeper or defender” — that directly leads to a goal or an obvious scoring opportunity. Think of a weak back-pass turned into an open net, a goalkeeper misjudging a routine catch, or “a defender inexplicably missing a clearance.” It’s more than a small slip-up; a howler is an error with high impact and high visibility.