diff --git a/paddle/gserver/activations/ActivationFunction.cpp b/paddle/gserver/activations/ActivationFunction.cpp
index 666c2e01c8bdaf412f53515aa86d89e8dfb9b1f0..f1f96fc67d04f436c887afd76afc6ae2ed615efd 100644
--- a/paddle/gserver/activations/ActivationFunction.cpp
+++ b/paddle/gserver/activations/ActivationFunction.cpp
@@ -69,13 +69,13 @@ static ClassRegistrar<ActivationFunction> gActivationRegistrar;
 class IdentityActivation : public ActivationFunction {
 public:
   static const std::string name;
-  Status __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
+  Error __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
     (void)act;
-    return Status();
+    return Error();
   }
-  Status __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
+  Error __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
     (void)act;
-    return Status();
+    return Error();
   }
   const std::string& getName() const { return name; }
 };
@@ -92,13 +92,13 @@ static InitFunction __reg_activation__identity([] {
  * \f]
  */
 BEGIN_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(sigmoid)
-Status __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
+Error __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
   act.value->sigmoid(*act.value);
-  return Status();
+  return Error();
 }
-Status __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
+Error __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
   act.grad->sigmoidDerivative(*act.value);
-  return Status();
+  return Error();
 }
 END_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(sigmoid)
 
@@ -115,12 +115,12 @@ MatrixPtr sftMaxDot_;
 MatrixPtr one_;
 
 public:
-Status __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
+Error __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
   act.value->softmax(*act.value);
-  return Status();
+  return Error();
 }
 
-Status __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
+Error __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
   MatrixPtr outputV = act.value;
   MatrixPtr outputG = act.grad;
 
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ Status __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
 
     act.grad->softmaxDerivative(*act.value, *sftMaxSum_);
   }
-  return Status();
+  return Error();
 }
 END_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(softmax)
 
@@ -167,9 +167,9 @@ ACTIVATION_CLASS_NAME(softmax) softmax_;
 Argument argument_;
 
 public:
-Status __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
+Error __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
   if (act.value->getWidth() != 1UL) {
-    return Status(
+    return ErrorF(
         "Input width for each timestep of sequence softmax should be 1");
   }
 
@@ -188,12 +188,12 @@ Status __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
 
   auto starts = act.sequenceStartPositions->getVector(useGpu(act.deviceId));
   act.value->sequenceSoftmax(*act.value, *starts);
-  return Status();
+  return Error();
 }
 
-Status __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
+Error __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
   if (act.value->getWidth() != 1UL) {
-    return Status(
+    return ErrorF(
         "Input width for each timestep of sequence softmax should be 1");
   }
 
@@ -207,10 +207,10 @@ Status __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
     argument_.value->setData(act.value->getData() + offset, 1UL, size);
     argument_.grad->setData(act.grad->getData() + offset, 1UL, size);
 
-    Status status = softmax_.backward(argument_);
+    Error status = softmax_.backward(argument_);
     if (!status.isOK()) return status;
   }
-  return Status();
+  return Error();
 }
 END_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(sequence_softmax)
 
@@ -225,14 +225,14 @@ END_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(sequence_softmax)
  *    0 otherwise.
  */
 BEGIN_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(relu)
-Status __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
+Error __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
   act.value->relu(*act.value);
-  return Status();
+  return Error();
 }
 
-Status __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
+Error __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
   act.grad->reluDerivative(*act.value);
-  return Status();
+  return Error();
 }
 END_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(relu)
 
@@ -250,14 +250,14 @@ END_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(relu)
  * TODO(yuyang18): Remove magic number 24 or make it configuable.
  */
 BEGIN_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(brelu)
-Status __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
+Error __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
   act.value->brelu(*act.value);
-  return Status();
+  return Error();
 }
 
-Status __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
+Error __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
   act.grad->breluDerivative(*act.value);
-  return Status();
+  return Error();
 }
 END_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(brelu)
 
@@ -268,14 +268,14 @@ END_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(brelu)
  * \f]
  */
 BEGIN_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(tanh)
-Status __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
+Error __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
   act.value->tanh(*act.value);
-  return Status();
+  return Error();
 }
 
-Status __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
+Error __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
   act.grad->tanhDerivative(*act.value);
-  return Status();
+  return Error();
 }
 END_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(tanh)
 
@@ -291,14 +291,14 @@ real a, b;
 
 public:
 ACTIVATION_CLASS_NAME(stanh)() : a(1.7159), b(2. / 3.) {}
-Status __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
+Error __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
   act.value->scaledTanh(*act.value, a, b);
-  return Status();
+  return Error();
 }
 
-Status __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
+Error __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
   act.grad->scaledTanhDerivative(*act.value, a, b);
-  return Status();
+  return Error();
 }
 END_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(stanh)
 
@@ -309,14 +309,14 @@ END_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(stanh)
  * \f]
  */
 BEGIN_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(softrelu)
-Status __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
+Error __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
   act.value->softrelu(*act.value);
-  return Status();
+  return Error();
 }
 
-Status __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
+Error __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
   act.grad->softreluDerivative(*act.value);
-  return Status();
+  return Error();
 }
 END_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(softrelu)
 
@@ -333,7 +333,7 @@ END_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(softrelu)
  *     0   if z=0
  */
 BEGIN_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(abs)
-Status __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
+Error __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
   SetDevice device(act.deviceId);
   Matrix::resizeOrCreate(act.in,
                          act.value->getHeight(),
@@ -343,12 +343,12 @@ Status __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
 
   act.in->copyFrom(*act.value);
   act.value->abs2(*act.value);
-  return Status();
+  return Error();
 }
 
-Status __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
+Error __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
   act.grad->absDerivative(*act.in);
-  return Status();
+  return Error();
 }
 END_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(abs)
 
@@ -359,7 +359,7 @@ END_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(abs)
  * \f]
  */
 BEGIN_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(square)
-Status __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
+Error __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
   SetDevice device(act.deviceId);
   Matrix::resizeOrCreate(act.in,
                          act.value->getHeight(),
@@ -369,12 +369,12 @@ Status __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
 
   act.in->copyFrom(*act.value);
   act.value->square2(*act.value);
-  return Status();
+  return Error();
 }
 
-Status __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
+Error __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
   act.grad->squareDerivative(*act.in);
-  return Status();
+  return Error();
 }
 END_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(square)
 
@@ -385,14 +385,14 @@ END_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(square)
  * \f]
  */
 BEGIN_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(exponential)
-Status __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
+Error __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
   act.value->exp2(*act.value);
-  return Status();
+  return Error();
 }
 
-Status __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
+Error __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
   act.grad->expDerivative(*act.value);
-  return Status();
+  return Error();
 }
 END_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(exponential)
 
@@ -403,7 +403,7 @@ END_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(exponential)
  * \f]
  */
 BEGIN_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(log)
-Status __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
+Error __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
   SetDevice device(act.deviceId);
   Matrix::resizeOrCreate(act.in,
                          act.value->getHeight(),
@@ -413,12 +413,12 @@ Status __must_check forward(Argument& act) {
 
   act.in->copyFrom(*act.value);
   act.value->log2(*act.value);
-  return Status();
+  return Error();
 }
 
-Status __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
+Error __must_check backward(Argument& act) {
   act.grad->dotDiv(*act.grad, *act.in);
-  return Status();
+  return Error();
 }
 END_DEFINE_ACTIVATION(log)
 
diff --git a/paddle/gserver/activations/ActivationFunction.h b/paddle/gserver/activations/ActivationFunction.h
index 737df2219dd36f04c51463b5506d7dcf4338cc2f..f208224e304a79125679c6f3a5c0be09552465ef 100644
--- a/paddle/gserver/activations/ActivationFunction.h
+++ b/paddle/gserver/activations/ActivationFunction.h
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ limitations under the License. */
 #pragma once
 #include <string>
 #include <vector>
-#include "paddle/utils/Status.h"
+#include "paddle/utils/Error.h"
 
 namespace paddle {
 
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ public:
    *
    * Usually, act is Layer::output_
    */
-  virtual Status __must_check forward(Argument& act) = 0;
+  virtual Error __must_check forward(Argument& act) = 0;
 
   /**
    * @brief Backward propagaion
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ public:
    * - Before calling backward(), act.grad = dE / dy, where E is the error/cost
    * - After backward() returns, act.grad = dE / dx = (dE/dy) * (dy/dx)
    */
-  virtual Status __must_check backward(Argument& act) = 0;
+  virtual Error __must_check backward(Argument& act) = 0;
 
   virtual const std::string& getName() const = 0;
 };
diff --git a/paddle/gserver/layers/Layer.cpp b/paddle/gserver/layers/Layer.cpp
index f96070fe6e269b9fb53453050a04f7f2c23998a1..f76d41ad3e8a3b1730f9d50c0773ee4f61ddb541 100644
--- a/paddle/gserver/layers/Layer.cpp
+++ b/paddle/gserver/layers/Layer.cpp
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@ limitations under the License. */
 #include "paddle/utils/Util.h"
 
 #include "paddle/math/SparseMatrix.h"
+#include "paddle/utils/Error.h"
 #include "paddle/utils/Logging.h"
-#include "paddle/utils/Status.h"
 
 #include "AddtoLayer.h"
 #include "CRFLayer.h"
diff --git a/paddle/utils/Status.h b/paddle/utils/Error.h
similarity index 70%
rename from paddle/utils/Status.h
rename to paddle/utils/Error.h
index 26329f8d19bae60d5a4835528888393b6de620b4..f1597f93d2579aecf2f0aa6a87ef45048355032b 100644
--- a/paddle/utils/Status.h
+++ b/paddle/utils/Error.h
@@ -34,9 +34,9 @@ namespace paddle {
  *    When method return a status, the return must use `__must_check` attribute.
  *    Example as below.
  * @code{cpp}
- * Status __must_check foo();
+ * Error __must_check foo();
  *
- * Status __must_check bar() {
+ * Error __must_check bar() {
  *   // do something.
  *   Status s = foo();  // invoke other method return status.
  *   if (!s.isOK()) return s;
@@ -50,9 +50,9 @@ namespace paddle {
  *    Example as below.
  *
  * @code{cpp}
- * Status bar();
+ * Error bar();
  *
- * int foo(Status* status) {
+ * int foo(Error* status) {
  *   // Do something.
  *   Status s = bar();
  *   if (!s.isOK()) {
@@ -61,15 +61,15 @@ namespace paddle {
  *   }
  *   // Do something else.
  *   if (someInternalErrorHappend) {
- *     status->setByPrintf("Some dimension is too large, %d", dimension);
+ *     *status = ErrorF("Some dimension is too large, %d", dimension);
  *     return 0;
  *   }
  *   // End of method.
  *   return someValue;
  * }
  *
- * Status foobar() {
- *   Status s;
+ * Error foobar() {
+ *   Error s;
  *   // do something.
  *   foo(&s);
  *   if (!s.isOK()) return s;
@@ -81,48 +81,12 @@ namespace paddle {
  * use log(FATAL) or CHECK to make program exit before. When we clean all
  * log(FATAL) and CHECK in Paddle, 'check' method will be removed.
  */
-class Status final : public std::exception {
+class Error final : public std::exception {
 public:
   /**
    * Default Status. OK
    */
-  Status() noexcept {}
-
-  /**
-   * @brief Create Status with error message
-   * @param msg
-   */
-  explicit Status(const std::string& msg) : errMsg_(new std::string(msg)) {}
-
-  /**
-   * @brief set a error message for status.
-   * @param msg
-   */
-  inline void set(const std::string& msg) noexcept {
-    errMsg_.reset(new std::string(msg));
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * @brief set a error message for status. Use C style printf
-   * @param fmt
-   */
-  template <typename... ARGS>
-  inline void setByPrintf(const char* fmt, ARGS... args) noexcept {
-    constexpr size_t kBufferSize = 1024;  // 1KB buffer
-    char buffer[kBufferSize];
-    snprintf(buffer, kBufferSize, fmt, args...);
-    errMsg_.reset(new std::string(buffer));
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * create a error status by C style printf.
-   */
-  template <typename... ARGS>
-  inline static Status printf(const char* fmt, ARGS... args) noexcept {
-    Status s;
-    s.setByPrintf(fmt, args...);
-    return s;
-  }
+  Error() noexcept {}
 
   /**
    * @brief what will return the error message. If status is OK, return nullptr.
@@ -148,8 +112,46 @@ public:
    */
   inline void check() const { CHECK(isOK()) << what(); }
 
+  /**
+   * friend method to create Error.
+   */
+  template <typename... ARGS>
+  friend Error __must_check ErrorF(const char* fmt, ARGS... args);
+
 private:
   std::shared_ptr<std::string> errMsg_;
 };
 
+/**
+ * ErrorF will create an Error by printf syntax.
+ *
+ * Specialize this method because clang will give a warning when use printf(fmt)
+ * without arguments.
+ */
+template <>
+inline Error __must_check ErrorF(const char* msg) {
+  Error e;
+  e.errMsg_.reset(new std::string(msg));
+  return e;
+}
+
+/**
+ * ErrorF will create an Error by printf syntax.
+ *
+ * Examples:
+ * @code{cpp}
+ * auto err = ErrorF("SomeError");
+ * auto err2 = ErrorF("SomeErrorWithParameter %f %d", real_val, int_val);
+ * @endcode{cpp}
+ */
+template <typename... ARGS>
+inline Error __must_check ErrorF(const char* fmt, ARGS... args) {
+  constexpr size_t kBufferSize = 1024;
+  char buffer[kBufferSize];
+  snprintf(buffer, kBufferSize, fmt, args...);
+  Error e;
+  e.errMsg_.reset(new std::string(buffer));
+  return e;
+}
+
 }  // namespace paddle
diff --git a/paddle/utils/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/paddle/utils/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index a1cc32668d510056c3ce87f6b357868ce91bf24d..aa923b355377752f9b297a125f5c43c364ba9b06 100644
--- a/paddle/utils/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/paddle/utils/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ add_simple_unittest(test_CustomStackTrace)
 add_simple_unittest(test_ThreadBarrier)
 add_simple_unittest(test_SpinLock)
 add_simple_unittest(test_SIMDFlags)
-add_simple_unittest(test_Status)
+add_simple_unittest(test_Error)
 
 add_executable(
     test_CustomStackTracePrint
diff --git a/paddle/utils/tests/test_Status.cpp b/paddle/utils/tests/test_Error.cpp
similarity index 76%
rename from paddle/utils/tests/test_Status.cpp
rename to paddle/utils/tests/test_Error.cpp
index 04cef095792c736e2b900608104cf5d17b44fb65..96115f7053aec521149be54b6f4f3558ece9b75d 100644
--- a/paddle/utils/tests/test_Status.cpp
+++ b/paddle/utils/tests/test_Error.cpp
@@ -12,23 +12,23 @@ WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 limitations under the License. */
 
-#include "paddle/utils/Status.h"
+#include "paddle/utils/Error.h"
 
 #include <gtest/gtest.h>
 
 TEST(Status, testAll) {
-  paddle::Status status;
+  paddle::Error status;
   ASSERT_TRUE(status.isOK());
-  status.set("I'm the error");
+  status = paddle::ErrorF("I'm the error");
   ASSERT_FALSE(status.isOK());
   ASSERT_STREQ("I'm the error", status.what());
 
-  paddle::Status status2("error2");
-  ASSERT_FALSE(status2.isOK());
-  ASSERT_STREQ("error2", status2.what());
+  status = paddle::ErrorF("error2");
+  ASSERT_FALSE(status.isOK());
+  ASSERT_STREQ("error2", status.what());
 
   int i = 3;
-  auto status3 = paddle::Status::printf("error%d", i);
+  auto status3 = paddle::ErrorF("error%d", i);
   ASSERT_FALSE(status3.isOK());
   ASSERT_STREQ("error3", status3.what());
 }