fizzle
Americanverb (used without object)
noun
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a fizzling, hissing, or sputtering.
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Informal. a failure; fiasco.
verb
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to make a hissing or bubbling sound
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informal (often foll by out) to fail or die out, esp after a promising start
noun
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a hissing or bubbling sound; fizz
-
informal an outright failure; fiasco
Etymology
Origin of fizzle
1525–35; earlier fysel to break wind, frequentative of *fise < Old Norse fīsa to break wind; akin to feist
Explanation
When something fizzles, it ends in a slow, sad way. Your bake sale may get off to a great start, only to fizzle once you've sold all the brownies and are left with nothing but oatmeal raisin cookies. The word fizzle has two uses — first, for talking about a failure or disappointment. Your party is a fizzle if no one shows up, and your cheerfulness is bound to fizzle after an experience like that. The second meaning is a hissing or sputtering sound, just like the word itself sounds — like the fizzle of a backyard firework or the fizzle of static on the radio as you switch stations.
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.
Joachim Klement and Francisca Reis, strategists at Panmure Liberum, the U.K.’s biggest independent investment bank, have laid out three ways the AI trade may fizzle and the impact those scenarios could have on stocks.
From MarketWatch • May 18, 2026
A lot of young sporting prodigies tend to fizzle out, but - despite a slow start to the Premier League season - Littler appears to be going from strength to strength.
From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026
A once profound story of education success will fizzle.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 8, 2026
If, for whatever reason, they can’t, a big part of demand will fizzle.
From Barron's • Dec. 31, 2025
What would have been a minor fizzle in Earth's atmosphere became an uncontrolled conflagration in the container's pure oxygen environment.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
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.
