- present participle of fail.
failing
Americannoun
-
failings
plural
-
an act or instance of failing; failure.
His failing is due to general incompetence.
-
a defect or fault; shortcoming; weakness.
His lack of knowledge is a grave failing.
preposition
noun
preposition
Synonym Usage
See fault.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of failing
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English; see origin at fail, -ing 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Bankruptcy Judge Scott Everett turned down that request—accusing the longtime TV personality of failing to reveal the full truth about his company’s finances and how they ended up in such a dire state.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026
Snell and Glasnow each starred last October, but each walked five in his division series start while failing to complete five innings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2026
"Clearly it was failing to compete in the premium market, they've had to completely reinvent it, take it luxury and electric and that is a big gamble."
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
Revere Securities, one of the top underwriters of foreign penny-stock IPOs, agrees to an $800,000 fine for failing to flag suspicious activity without admitting or denying the findings.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
“In light of this digression, perhaps I should remind us all,” said Thaddeus, “that we are assembled here to discuss why the hummingbears are failing to return.”
From "Willodeen" by Katherine Applegate
This time—in scores by Respighi, Brahms, Strauss, Elgar and Tchaikovsky—I was far less impressed, though not because of any technical failings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
Mr. Gude presents Eugene Debs as a man not without failings but ultimately heroic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
"The biggest concern was that the phrase 'forward-looking' seems to necessitate a limited involvement of families who have been through the mill of this culture of failings," he said.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
The coroner also raised concerns that many of the failings had been brought up at a previous inquest he'd conducted.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
They warded off the negative stereotypes that haunted Negroes like shadows, using tough love to protect both the errant individual and the group from her failings.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
