failure

[ feyl-yer ]

/ ˈfeɪl yər /

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See synonyms for: failure / failures on Thesaurus.com

noun

an act or instance of failing or proving unsuccessful; lack of success: His effort ended in failure. The campaign was a failure.

nonperformance of something due, required, or expected: a failure to do what one has promised; a failure to appear.

a subnormal quantity or quality; an insufficiency: the failure of crops.

deterioration or decay, especially of vigor, strength, etc.: The failure of her health made retirement necessary.

a condition of being bankrupt by reason of insolvency.

a becoming insolvent or bankrupt: the failure of a bank.

a person or thing that proves unsuccessful: He is a failure in his career. The cake is a failure.

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of failure

1635–45; fail + -ure; replacing failer a (de)fault <Anglo-French (noun use of infinitive), for Old French faillir

OTHER WORDS FROM failure

non·fail·ure, noun

Words nearby failure

failed state, failing, faille, fail-safe, fail-soft, failure, fain, fainaigue, fainéant, fainites, fáinne

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use failure in a sentence

Each of these failures compounded and led to the current US death toll — and local and state governments, as hard as some tried, simply don’t have the resources to fight a pandemic on their own as the federal government flails.
Trump says US Covid-19 deaths would be low if you excluded blue states. That’s wrong.|German Lopez|September 17, 2020|Vox
As recently as 2017, the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement issued a report outlining continuing failures by the state to police water pollution by coal companies.
This Billionaire Governor’s Coal Company Might Get a Big Break From His Own Regulators|by Ken Ward Jr.|September 17, 2020|ProPublica
I wish I would have gotten that memo or a fax perhaps in the ’90s, but on the other side of it, I don’t even know how many hours, hundreds of hours, of therapy and public failures later.
Get Gabrielle Union’s Best Career Advice|Joshua Eferighe|September 16, 2020|Ozy
But, I mean, if I worked at Netflix, I might think, “Well, maybe I will get fired if it’s a big enough failure, if I actually screw up enough.”
What if Your Company Had No Rules? (Bonus Episode)|Maria Konnikova|September 12, 2020|Freakonomics

The heart can recover from myocarditis, but in rare cases, the condition can damage the heart muscle enough to lead to heart failure.
College athletes show signs of possible heart injury after COVID-19|Aimee Cunningham|September 11, 2020|Science News
“I think it is important to say it is too soon to judge success or failure,” said Col. Steven Warren, a Pentagon spokesman.
Pentagon Doesn’t Know How Many People It’s Killed in the ISIS War|Nancy A. Youssef|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In doing so he exposed the failure of other airlines in the region to see the huge pent-up demand for cheap travel.
Annoying Airport Delays Might Prevent You From Becoming the Next AirAsia 8501|Clive Irving|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League issued a statement deploring the state GOP for its failure to censure Duke.
The Louisiana Racists Who Courted Steve Scalise|Jason Berry|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In short, we found ways to couch messages of failure or inadequacy.
Random Hook-Ups or Dry Spells: Why Millennials Flunk College Dating|Ellie Schaack|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Failure to bond to their parents was the prominent reason children were being given away.
Judge: Rehoming Kids Is Trafficking|Tina Traster|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
That which is called nasality is caused by the failure of the tone to reach freely the anterior cavities of the nares.
Expressive Voice Culture|Jessie Eldridge Southwick
Marriage is like Mayonnaise sauce, either a great success or an absolute and entire failure.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
Joachim, as time showed, never forgave the Emperor for the failure of his cherished plan.
Napoleon's Marshals|R. P. Dunn-Pattison
When trusted with anything like the command of a mixed body of troops he proved an utter failure.
Napoleon's Marshals|R. P. Dunn-Pattison
He consented to the trial, receiving Planner's solemn promise that, in the event of failure, it should be the last.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various

British Dictionary definitions for failure

failure

/ (ˈfeɪljə) /

noun

the act or an instance of failing

a person or thing that is unsuccessful or disappointingthe evening was a failure

nonperformance of something required or expectedfailure to attend will be punished

cessation of normal operation; breakdowna power failure

an insufficiency or shortagea crop failure

a decline or loss, as in health or strength

the fact of not reaching the required standard in an examination, test, course, etc

the act or process of becoming bankrupt or the state of being bankrupt

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

failure

Origin of failure

OTHER WORDS FROM failure

Words nearby failure

Words related to failure

How to use failure in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for failure