epic fail
Americannoun
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a spectacularly embarrassing or humorous mistake, humiliating situation, etc., that is subject to ridicule and given a greatly exaggerated importance.
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a person who fails in this way.
He thought he was being funny and charming, but no, he was an epic fail.
Usage
What else does epic fail mean? When someone spectacularly messes up at something—especially little or simple things done or shared in public, like misspelling one's own name on an official form or getting rejected for a kiss on the Jumbotron—people might joke about it as an epic fail. How is epic fail pronounced?[ep-ic feyl]
Etymology
Origin of epic fail
First recorded in 2000–05
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.
There's no end of flak that can be flung at Russell Martin for the epic fail that is his project at Rangers.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2025
Somewhat perversely, the good-natured frenzy surrounding this epic fail can be viewed as evidence of its romance reality flagship's success.
From Salon ● Apr. 17, 2023
The pulling of Anderson was an epic fail.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2022
A former Navy aviator, she’d always held herself to high standards, and getting divorced at 32 felt like an epic fail.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 12, 2021
From my parents’ awful plan to give up Sir Fig Newton for adoption, to my epic fail with the lemonade stand.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
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.
