fizzle
Americanverb (used without object)
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fizzles,
present (3rd person singular)
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fizzled,
past participle, past
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fizzling
present participle
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
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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fizzlesimple
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fizzlessimple
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have fizzledperfect
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has fizzledperfect
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am fizzlingprogressive
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are fizzlingprogressive
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is fizzlingprogressive
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have been fizzlingperfect progressive
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has been fizzlingperfect progressive
Past
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fizzledsimple
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had fizzledperfect
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was fizzlingprogressive
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were fizzlingprogressive
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had been fizzlingperfect progressive
Future
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.
See Examples For:
"When that happens, triplets easily fizzle out before they ever meet. Molecules must be close enough for energy to transfer but separated enough to prevent quenching of excitons."
From Science Daily ● Jun. 26, 2026
The stock popped following the IPO but has slumped 24% over the past six trading sessions through Thursday’s close, with investors rethinking a lofty valuation amid worries that the AI boom could fizzle out.
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
It is just as easy to find critics who think AI is just the latest tech fad that is doomed to fizzle before it achieves anything.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
When the relationships fizzle, when the job sucks, when things don’t work out the way you plan, you know they’re always there for you.
From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2026
They fly smoky circles around my head and then fizzle out.
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
Researchers believe the shock "fizzles" after reaching the outer boundary of a bubble created by gas that the doomed star had previously expelled.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
We explore what could happen if the boom fizzles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
The show, which premiered on Broadway in 1947, was Lerner and Loewe’s first hit after a string of flops and fizzles.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026
A star quarterback fizzles, a new hire doesn’t work out—and so it’s back to the basics.
From Barron's ● Dec. 12, 2025
In fact, within the thermonuclear research community, Livermore’s reputation was marred by the almost comic fizzles of the first devices it readied for testing.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
But the American dream of winning the tournament for the first time fizzled out in shambolic fashion in the early hours of Tuesday morning with a hugely disappointing defeat by Belgium.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
Craft beer and hard seltzers fizzled out after a few years of explosive growth, for instance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
What started off as a trailblazing music partnership between música mexicana band Fuerza Regida and L.A. label Rancho Humilde has now fizzled into a sticky online drama.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
However, as negotiations between the U.S. and Iran fizzled, they rose again.
From MarketWatch ● May 15, 2026
Later, as the storm clouds broke above them, they sat under the canopy of the tent while the remains of their fire steamed and fizzled.
From "Ruby Holler" by Sharon Creech
Hopes for a deal run high before fizzling, so markets have been reluctant to discount longer-lasting disruptions, Morgan Stanley analysts said.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 9, 2026
The rebound in software stocks appeared to be fizzling out as Wall Street pivoted back toward the chip and server makers that have helped power the market to all-time highs in recent months.
From Barron's ● Jun. 2, 2026
Briefly, Bailey Zappe, one of his backups, stirred up optimism before fizzling out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
His dream of springboarding into politics with an antipoverty message was fizzling, too.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2025
The whole thing again fizzling around us both, around our closeness, like a just-lit sparkler, and I didn’t know what to say back.
From "The Miseducation of Cameron Post" by emily m. danforth
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.
