- 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:
She blamed the Spanish government for failing to protect people like her.
From The Wall Street Journal ● 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
Jamie Bennett has been charged with failing to comply with a prohibited assembly direction.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
The department later pleaded guilty for failing to comply with workplace safety.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
I approach Mr. Griffiths with dread, ready to get a lecture or, worse, a failing grade.
From "Amina's Song" by Hena Khan
Mr. Gude presents Eugene Debs as a man not without failings but ultimately heroic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
The inquest heard that a report commissioned after Cahan's death identified some of the serious failings investigated by the coroner.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
The issue was revived in August when the High Court quashed the commission's latest restriction because of procedural failings, without ruling that the Order had a right to march along Garvaghy Road.
From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026
But for Rombach, the biggest danger rests in potential human failings.
From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026
It was his job to find their failings and remedy them if he could and to replace them if he couldn’t.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
