failing
- 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.
- in the absence or default of: Failing payment, we shall sue.
Origin of failing
Synonyms for failing
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comfail
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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)
- 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.
- without fail, with certainty; positively: I will visit you tomorrow without fail.
Origin of fail
Related Words for failing
flaw, failure, weakness, defect, foible, deficiency, drawback, error, frailty, fault, imperfection, short, scanty, shy, faint, defeated, scant, wanting, declining, miscarriageExamples from the Web for failing
Contemporary Examples of failing
He beat his illness twice, wrote about his battles with the disease, and continued broadcasting even as his health was failing.
Annie Lee Cooper, well played by Winfrey, is shown trying but failing to register to vote.
But failing that, he advised pro-immigration reform Republican candidates such as former Gov. Jeb Bush to just skip the state.
They recorded 10,549 graves on or near the railway in 144 cemeteries, failing to locate only 52 graves.
So by failing, I go audition for Any Given Sunday [and] things turn out right.
Historical Examples of failing
We visited him at Winchester, and found him sorely old and with failing wits.
The Armourer's PrenticesCharlotte M. Yonge
Since we cannot reach all of them this week, we must try to reach seven; and failing in that, suppose we say one?
Ester Ried Yet SpeakingIsabella Alden
She's been failing all along, you know, and she has just cried herself down.
Ester Ried Yet SpeakingIsabella Alden
Wotan's heart ached at the thought of failing this friend he loved so well.
Opera Stories from WagnerFlorence Akin
She is the daughter of an old and failing man, whose days are near their close.
The Last of the MohicansJames Fenimore Cooper
failing
- a weak point; flaw
- (used to express a condition) in default offailing a solution this afternoon, the problem will have to wait until Monday
fail
1- 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
- a failure to attain the required standard, as in an examination
- without fail definitely; with certainty
Word Origin for fail
fail
2- Scot a turf; sod
Word Origin for fail
Word Origin and History for failing
"defect, fault," 1580s, verbal noun from fail (v.).
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.
fail
Idioms and Phrases with failing
fail
see without fail; words fail me.