failed
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of failed
First recorded in 1650–60; fail ( def. ) + -ed 2 ( def. )
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.
Each month, they were sent a mailer promoting the “Selection of the Month,” and if the customer failed to return the rejection form, Columbia House would send them the new release and charge their account.
From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2026
The pair -- dubbed "the heir and the spare" from an early age -- have failed to put aside their differences, despite their father King Charles III's cancer diagnosis.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
On 7 July, Judge Mr Justice Nicklin dismissed the claims and said the public figures had failed to prove the allegations.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
“We have failed to work through the moral implications of group differences to prepare for the possibility that they will be shown to exist,” he wrote.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
He saw now how that had served him: In refusing to defend himself, he’d failed to defend Deadwood.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
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.
