fail

[ feyl ]

/ feɪl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fail ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to fall short of success or achievement in something expected, attempted, desired, or approved: The experiment failed because of poor planning.

to receive less than the passing grade or mark in an examination, class, or course of study: He failed in history.

to be or become deficient or lacking; be insufficient or absent; fall short: Our supplies failed.

to dwindle, pass, or die away: The flowers failed for lack of rain.

to lose strength or vigor; become weak: His health failed after the operation.

to become unable to meet or pay debts or business obligations; become insolvent or bankrupt.

(of a building member, structure, machine part, etc.) to break, bend, crush, or be otherwise destroyed or made useless because of an excessive load.

to stop functioning or operating: The electricity failed during the storm.

Slang.

to make an embarrassing or humorous mistake, be in a humiliating situation, etc., and be subject to ridicule: Showed up late to the wedding? You fail!
to be embarrassingly incompetent, stupid, etc.: She fails at life. I just failed at walking and fell on my face.
to be bad or of inferior quality: The play is terrible—even the music fails.

verb (used with object)

to be unsuccessful in the performance or completion of: He failed to do his duty.

(of some expected or usual resource) to prove of no use or help to: His friends failed him. Words failed her.

to receive less than a passing grade or mark in: He failed history.

to declare (a person) unsuccessful in a test, course of study, etc.; give less than a passing grade to: The professor failed him in history.

noun

Slang.

an embarrassing or humorous mistake, humiliating situation, etc., that is subject to ridicule and given an exaggerated importance: Their app update is a massive fail.
the condition or quality resulting from having failed in this way: His online post is full of fail.
a person who fails in this way.

Stock Exchange.

a stockbroker's inability to deliver or receive security within the required time after sale or purchase.
such an undelivered security.

Obsolete. failure as to performance, occurrence, etc.

interjection

Slang.

(used to mock an embarrassing or humorous mistake, humiliating situation, etc., giving it an exaggerated importance): A tattoo that misspells your name? Fail!
(used to indicate that something is bad or of inferior quality)

adjective

unsuccessful; failed: a totally fail policy.

Slang.

of or noting an embarrassing or humorous mistake, humiliating situation, etc.: the top 100 funniest fail photos on the Internet.
embarrassingly incompetent, stupid, etc: Why am I so fail?
very bad or of inferior quality.

Nearby words

Idioms

without fail, with certainty; positively: I will visit you tomorrow without fail.

Origin of fail

1175–1225; Middle English failen < Anglo-French, Old French faillir < Vulgar Latin *fallīre, for Latin fallere to disappoint, deceive

Related formsun·failed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for fail

The Big Five banks dubbed too big to fail, are 35 percent bigger than they were when the meltdown was triggered.
Sen. Warren’s Main Street Crusade to Pressure Clinton|Eleanor Clift|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Diets not only fail to make us thinner, they also fail to make us healthier in the long term.
Why Your New Year’s Diet Will Fail|Carrie Arnold|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
These banks…are a whole lot bigger now than they were when we bailed them out in 2008 because they were too big to fail.
How Naive is Elizabeth Warren?|Nick Gillespie|December 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Instead, everyone agrees it has simply reinscribed too big to fail as explicit law.
How Naive is Elizabeth Warren?|Nick Gillespie|December 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Think about it: Dodd-Frank was explicitly passed to drive a stake through the heart of the implicit concept of “too big to fail.”
How Naive is Elizabeth Warren?|Nick Gillespie|December 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I do not see how the Count D'Orsay can fail to win your heart.
Adle Dubois|Mrs. William T. Savage
Even to-day there are many people who fail to grasp the essential facts of this situation.
The Outline of History: Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind|Herbert George Wells
Go away, monsieur, you will not fail to catch the quarry you are pursuing.
The Red and the Black|Stendhal
The chapters in the same way often fail to finish the subject with which they deal, and sometimes include several subjects.
Study of Child Life|Marion Foster Washburne
The exposition was a very valuable one, and did not fail to attract a large concourse of people from all parts of the country.
Reminiscences, 1819-1899|Julia Ward Howe.

British Dictionary definitions for fail (1 of 2)

fail

/ (feɪl) /

verb

to be unsuccessful in an attempt (at something or to do something)

(intr) to stop operating or working properlythe steering failed suddenly

to judge or be judged as being below the officially accepted standard required for success in (a course, examination, etc)

(tr) to prove disappointing, undependable, or useless to (someone)

(tr) to neglect or be unable (to do something)

(intr) to prove partly or completely insufficient in quantity, duration, or extent

(intr) to weaken; fade away

(intr) to go bankrupt or become insolvent

noun

a failure to attain the required standard, as in an examination

without fail definitely; with certainty

Word Origin for fail

C13: from Old French faillir, ultimately from Latin fallere to disappoint; probably related to Greek phēlos deceitful

British Dictionary definitions for fail (2 of 2)

fail

/ (fel) /

noun

Scot a turf; sod

Word Origin for fail

perhaps from Scottish Gaelic fàl

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

Word Origin and History for fail (1 of 2)

fail

early 13c., from Old French falir (11c., Modern French faillir) "be lacking, miss, not succeed," from Vulgar Latin *fallire, from Latin fallere "to trip, cause to fall;" figuratively "to deceive, trick, dupe, cheat, elude; fail, be lacking or defective." Related: Failed; failing. Replaced Old English abreoðan.

Word Origin and History for fail (1 of 2)

fail

late 13c. (e.g. without fail), from Old French faile "deficiency," from falir (see fail (v.)). The Anglo-French form of the verb, failer, also came to be used as a noun, hence failure.

Idioms and Phrases with fail

fail

see without fail; words fail me.

fail

verb (used without object)

verb (used with object)

noun

interjection

adjective

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Nearby words

Idioms

Origin of fail

Examples from the Web for fail

British Dictionary definitions for fail (1 of 2)

fail

verb

noun

Word Origin for fail

British Dictionary definitions for fail (2 of 2)

fail

noun

Word Origin for fail

Word Origin and History for fail (1 of 2)

fail

Word Origin and History for fail (1 of 2)

fail

Idioms and Phrases with fail

fail