Synonyms for fail
- verb
- noun
Synonyms by meaning
Verb
1. Miscarry — to be unsuccessful
miscarry, break, give out, give way, come to nothing, come short, miss, decline, fall, go bad, disappear, come to naught, fall short, founder, come to grief, go down, collapse, deteriorate, fade, decay, fall flat, crash and burn informal
2. Bomb — to be wanting; to fall short; to be or become deficient in any measure or degree up to total absence
Other
flunk US, neglect, lose, go wrong, fizzle, lack, betray, forsake, omit, default, desert, disappoint dated
Noun
Definitions
- v. 1
To be unsuccessful.
Throughout my life, I have always failed.
- v. 2
To be wanting; to fall short; to be or become deficient in any measure or degree up to total absence.
The crops failed last year.
- n. 1
A failure, especially of a financial transaction (a termination of an action).
Related words
- Word family
- failgirl failproof failure
- Phrases
- fail to notice
- Other spellings
- feal
Example sentences
- miss They came early so they wouldn't miss the prelude.
- disappear Tom watched the plane disappear into the distance.
- lose This cuttlefish has started to lose its freshness.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| fail | steady | |
| miss | rising | |
| disappear | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- miss1, fall1, lose1, lack1, tank1, bomb1, bust1, fade1, omit2
- 5 letters
- break1, decay2, conch1, flunk1
- 6 letters
- desert2, betray2, falter2, fizzle2
- 7 letters
- failure2, founder2, decline2, default2, neglect2, forsake2
- 8 letters
- collapse2, miscarry
- 9 letters
- disappear3
- 10 letters
- disappoint3
- 11 letters
- deteriorate5
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (omit2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- faillir