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Synonyms

fall behind

British  

verb

  1. to drop back; fail to keep up

  2. to be in arrears, as with a payment

"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
fall behind Idioms  

  1. Also, get behind.

  2. Lag, fail to keep up, as in You really must keep up with the others; if you fall behind you could get lost . [First half of 1500s]

  3. Be financially in arrears, as in He fell behind in his payments . [Mid-1800s]

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.

The worry is that the company will fall behind on AI innovation, and some think funding a business transformation would be a better use of cash than buying back stock and paying dividends.

From MarketWatch • May 1, 2026

How is this influencing your run for governor now and your appeals to Georgia voters to fall behind you?

From Salon • Apr. 27, 2026

At the company level, “I think it’s driving people to not want to fall behind even though they don’t know how far behind they are,” Weedbrook said.

From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026

Despite a historic lead heading into the weekend, McIlroy didn’t just fall behind on Sunday but trailed by as many as three shots at times.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2026

“I guess that’s okay. I just don’t want us to fall behind on the project.”

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

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.