failure

[feyl-yer]

noun

1. an act or instance of failing fail or proving unsuccessful; lack of success.

   His effort ended in failure.

   The campaign was a failure.

2. nonperformance of something due, required, or expected.

   a failure to do what one has promised;

   a failure to appear.

3. a subnormal quantity or quality; an insufficiency.

   the failure of crops.

4. deterioration or decay, especially of vigor, strength, etc..

   The failure of her health made retirement necessary.

5. a condition of being bankrupt by reason of insolvency.

6. a becoming insolvent or bankrupt.

   the failure of a bank.

7. a person or thing that proves unsuccessful.

   He is a failure in his career.

   The cake is a failure.

failure

/ ˈfeɪljə /

noun

1. the act or an instance of failing

2. a person or thing that is unsuccessful or disappointing

   the evening was a failure

3. nonperformance of something required or expected

   failure to attend will be punished

4. cessation of normal operation; breakdown

   a power failure

5. an insufficiency or shortage

   a crop failure

6. a decline or loss, as in health or strength

7. the fact of not reaching the required standard in an examination, test, course, etc

8. the act or process of becoming bankrupt or the state of being bankrupt

Other Word Forms

• nonfailure noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of failure¹

First recorded in 1635–45; fail + -ure; replacing failer “a fault, default,” from Anglo-French (noun use of infinitive), for Old French faillir

Example Sentences

That tension erupted into violence after resident Cynthia Jarrett, a black woman, died from heart failure when four policemen burst into her home on the estate searching for stolen property.

Read more on BBC

Our tendency to ghettoize drama — along racial or immigrant lines — reflects the failure to understand our collective story.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Can Pacific Palisades residents sue the city of L.A. for a series of fire failures?

Read more on Los Angeles Times

And we are just as angry about the failures of our democracy, which, as Robert Reich recently pointed out, are almost entirely due to lobbying money in politics.

Read more on Salon

The equipment failure on that tower caused a fault and surge in power.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bankruptcy 
• breakdown 
• collapse 
• decline 
• defeat 
• deficiency 
• deterioration 
• failing 
• loss 
• misstep