ENGLISH THESAURUS & DICTIONARY

fail

verb

Words like fail

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99 words · verbSort by

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MEANING & USAGE

Definitions & examples

01verb

fail to do something; leave something undone

“She failed to notice that her child was no longer in his crib”

“The secretary failed to call the customer and the company lost the account”

02verb

be unsuccessful

“Where do today's public schools fail?”

“The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably”

03verb

disappoint, prove undependable to; abandon, forsake

“His sense of smell failed him this time”

“His strength finally failed him”

04verb

stop operating or functioning

“The engine finally went”

“The car died on the road”

7 more meanings

05verb

be unable

“I fail to understand your motives”

06verb

judge unacceptable

“The teacher failed six students”

07verb

fail to get a passing grade

“She studied hard but failed nevertheless”

“Did I fail the test?”

08verb

fall short in what is expected

“She failed in her obligations as a good daughter-in-law”

“We must not fail his obligation to the victims of the Holocaust”

09verb

become bankrupt or insolvent; fail financially and close

“The toy company went bankrupt after the competition hired cheap Mexican labor”

“A number of banks failed that year”

10verb

prove insufficient

“The water supply for the town failed after a long drought”

11verb

deteriorate

“Her health is declining”

Meanings and examples from Open English WordNet 2025. About our sources ↗