failure

noun

ˈfāl-yər How to pronounce failure (audio)
Definition of failurenext
1
as in negligence
the nonperformance of an assigned or expected action your failure to check the batteries in the smoke detector could have tragic results

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in defeat
a falling short of one's goals the failure of the school's fund-raising drive was a big disappointment to all

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in disaster
something that has failed the students' first attempt to build a homemade rocket was a disappointing failure

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in shortage
a falling short of an essential or desirable amount or number the failure of the potato crop had a devastating effect on the population of Ireland

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
5
as in bankruptcy
the inability to pay one's debts years of prolonged economic depression, when business failures were common

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of failure Also unfinished are the high-speed rail and the Delta tunnel, major environmental infrastructure projects that have been seized upon by right-wing media as evidence of Newsom’s failures. — Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026 Among the criteria are low withdrawal and failure numbers for those students. — Elissa Nadworny, NPR, 23 Oct. 2026 Atchity died Monday of kidney failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his longtime business and producing partner, Chi-Li Wong, told The Hollywood Reporter. — Mike Barnes, HollywoodReporter, 23 Oct. 2026 At its strongest, Crossing the Red Line paints an important portrait of the ghouls who prosecuted the genocide in Gaza, offering an historically crucial record of their conduct and their failures. — Literary Hub, 22 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for failure
Recent Examples of Synonyms for failure
  1. negligence
  2. defeat
  3. disaster
  4. shortage
  5. bankruptcy
  6. neglect
  7. collapse
  8. catastrophe
Noun
  • Protesters said that rampant graft led to negligence during renovation work at the Novi Sad station, and eventually to the canopy collapse.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 25 Oct. 2026
  • Hwang had barred Rinderknecht’s attorney, Steve Haney, from raising allegations of negligence by the fire department.
    — Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of negligence
Noun
  • Trump can’t let Iran turn a military defeat into a diplomatic victory.
    — , FOXNews.com, 23 Oct. 2026
  • After allocating about 8% of GDP to NEOM, once contract cancellations are included, the government has admitted a costly defeat.
    — Matthew Martin, semafor.com, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of defeat
Noun
  • Residents, meanwhile, can give firefighters the best shot at stopping a potential disaster by clearing flammable vegetation in their yards and fire-hardening their homes.
    — Noah Haggerty, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2026
  • The goal, ultimately, is not to eat our way out of an ecological disaster.
    — Victoria Malloy, Time, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of disaster
Noun
  • The bigger issue, Chesky argues, is a shortage of new construction.
    — Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Recently, anger at this collateral damage, heightened by the fish shortage, has evolved into a political movement.
    — Zach Helfand, New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of shortage
Noun
  • Silverstein came to Spirit from Linens ‘n Things in 2003, well before its 2008 bankruptcy.
    — Catherina Gioino, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Some companies that owned Spirit's planes before bankruptcy will just sell their parts, but some may keep the planes in storage.
    — Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of bankruptcy
Noun
  • Acton has said the campaign used her estranged mother to attack her over a childhood marked by severe abuse and neglect.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2026
  • Caught in that sensual music all neglect Monuments of unageing intellect.
    — Frannie Comstock, Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of neglect
Noun
  • Mohamud also warned of a possible secondary collapse, as the collapsed building was leaning on its neighbor.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Spirit Airlines' ghost planes The problems with young retirements predate Spirit's collapse.
    — Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of collapse
Noun
  • Without an authoritative accounting, Eisenkot argues, the country cannot fully reckon with the catastrophe.
    — Eric Cortellessa, Time, 25 Oct. 2026
  • Retreating Iraqi forces set fire to hundreds of oil wells in Kuwait creating an environmental catastrophe felt throughout the Gulf.
    — Paula Hancocks, CNN Money, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of catastrophe

Browse Nearby Words

fails (at)
failure
failures
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Cite this Entry

“Failure.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/failure. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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