failure
[noun]
Synonyms:
- defeat, breakdown, collapse, downfall, fiasco, lack of success, miscarriage, overthrow
- loser, black sheep, dead duck (slang), disappointment, dud (informal), flop (informal), nonstarter, washout (informal)
- bankruptcy, crash, downfall, insolvency, liquidation, ruin

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Antonyms: success
Contrasted words: accomplishment, achievement, discharge, effectuation, fulfillment, abundance, adequacy, sufficiency, improvement, invigoration, revitalization, strengthening
Related Idioms: no go
Related Words: laxity, negligence, remissness, slackness, indifference, unconcern, failing, fault, imperfection, shortcoming, inferiority, meagerness, poorness, skimpiness, dearth, paucity, debilitation, enfeeblement, exhaustion, flagging, weakness, botch, fiasco, fizzle, hash, muddle, washout, has-been, might-have-been

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English Thesaurus: fail, go wrong, not work, be unsuccessful, be a failure, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

fail‧ure S3 W2 /ˈfeɪljə $ -ər/ noun
[Word Family: noun: fail, failure, failing; adjective: failed, unfailing; verb: fail; adverb: unfaillingly]

1. LACK OF SUCCESS [uncountable and countable] a lack of success in achieving or doing something Antonym : success:
Successful people often aren’t very good at dealing with failure.
failure to do something
the conference’s failure to reach an agreement

2. UNSUCCESSFUL PERSON/THING [countable] someone or something that is not successful Antonym : success:
I always felt a bit of a failure at school.

3. failure to do something an act of not doing something which should be done or which people expect you to do:
Failure to produce proof of identity could result in prosecution.

4. BUSINESS [uncountable and countable] a situation in which a business has to close because of a lack of money:
Business failures in Scotland rose 10% last year.

5. MACHINE/BODY PART [uncountable and countable] an occasion when a machine or part of your body stops working properly:
The cause of the crash was engine failure.
heart/kidney/liver etc failure
He died from kidney failure.
failure in
a failure in the computer system

6. CROPS [uncountable and countable] an occasion when crops do not grow or produce food, for example because of bad weather:
a series of crop failures

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

failure
noun
I. lack of success
ADJ. complete, total | abject, humiliating, ignominious The attempt ended in abject failure.
inevitable | costly | alleged, apparent, perceived | evident | comparative, relative | initial Initial failure was followed by unexpected, if modest, success.
ultimate War is the ultimate failure of public communication.
personal | moral | academic | economic, financial | military
VERB + FAILURE be doomed to, end in, result in All her efforts were doomed to failure.
admit, confess He was too proud to admit failure.
expect Children who are doing badly tend to expect failure and criticism.
fear | avoid
FAILURE + NOUN rate There is a high failure rate with this treatment.
PHRASES fear of failure Fear of failure should not deter you from trying.
a history of failure John had a long history of academic failure.
a possibility/risk of failure, a sense of failure

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

failure
II. unsuccessful person/thing
ADJ. great, serious | complete, total, utter | catastrophic, disastrous | abject, conspicuous, dismal, humiliating, ignominious, lamentable, miserable | costly | heroic Her ideas were large: if she could not succeed, she would at least be a heroic failure.
alleged, apparent, perceived | evident | comparative, relative | past to learn from past failures
rare The film was one of the rare failures in his career.
unexpected | personal | collective | moral | academic | economic, financial economic failure and increasing unemployment
military
VERB + FAILURE be, represent | prove The venture proved a costly failure.
feel I felt a complete failure.
consider sb/sth, regard sb/sth as | brand sb/sth, pronounce sb/sth Her parents had long since branded her a failure.
FAILURE + VERB arise from sth failures arising from circumstances beyond your control
PREP. ~ of The decision to withdraw funding represents a failure of imagination.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

failure
III. not doing sth
ADJ. fundamental | general | manifest | consistent, constant, continued/continuing, persistent, repeated | government, management government failure to listen to the voice of the electorate
VERB + FAILURE excuse, justify seeking to excuse his failure to ask her permission

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

failure
IV. of a machine/system/part of the body, etc.
ADJ. battery, brake, component, computer, engine, equipment, mechanical, power, system, technical | bank, business, commercial, company, corporate, market Business failures rose by 30% in 2001.
brain, heart, kidney, liver | crop, harvest | communication
VERB + FAILURE cause, lead to, result in a rare viral infection that can lead to heart failure
FAILURE + VERB occur A power failure occurred between 4 and 5 p.m.
PREP. ~ in a failure in the computer system

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

failure

end in/result in failure
A series of rescue attempts ended in failure.
be doomed to failure (=be certain to fail)
The rebellion was doomed to failure from the start.
admit failure
He was too proud to admit failure.
accept failure
Being able to accept failure is part of life.
avoid failure
She was anxious to avoid failure.
complete/total/utter failure
The project ended in total failure.
abject/dismal failure (=used to emphasize how bad a failure is)
The experiment was considered a dismal failure.
a personal failure (=a failure that is someone's personal fault)
He considered his inability to form long-term relationships to be a personal failure.
economic failure
Economic failure drove the government out of office.
fear of failure
Fear of failure should not deter you from trying.
the risk/possibility of failure
The risk of failure for a new product is very high.
The possibility of failure was sufficiently high for the auditors to warn investors.
an admission of failure
Dropping out of college would be an admission of failure.
a history of failure (=a situation in which someone has failed many times in the past)
Some children have a history of failure at school.
a string of failures (=a series of failures)
The team has had a string of failures in recent games.
a sense of failure
People may feel a sense of failure if they admit they have ended up in a job they hate.
the consequences of failure
The political consequences of failure would be defeat at the next election.
a failure rate
There is a high failure rate in the restaurant industry.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

fail to not succeed – used about people, plans, methods etc:
The plan failed.
They failed to persuade her to change her mind.
This method never fails.
go wrong if something you do goes wrong, it fails after starting well:
The experiment went wrong when the chemicals combined to form a poisonous gas.
not work if something does not work, it does not do what you want it to do:
The drugs don’t work.
I tried to fix it with glue, but that didn’t work.
be unsuccessful /ˌʌnsəkˈsesfəl◂/ to not have the result you wanted:
His first attempt to get a teaching job was unsuccessful.
The search was unsuccessful.
be a failure to be unsuccessful, with the result that you have wasted your efforts:
The government’s 5-year plan to modernize the economy was a complete failure.
backfire if a plan or action backfires, it does the opposite of what it was intended to do:
His plan to get attention backfired, and instead of being promoted he lost his job.
in vain if you try to do something in vain, you fail to do it:
They tried in vain to save him.
All her efforts had been in vain.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

failure noun [countable] someone or something that is not successful:
The book was a complete failure.
I felt a complete failure.
flop noun [countable] informal something that is not successful because people do not like it – used especially about a film, play, product, or performance:
Despite the hype, the movie was a flop at the box office.
Their next computer was a flop.
disaster noun [countable] used when saying that something is extremely unsuccessful:
Our first date was a disaster.
Their marriage was a total disaster.
fiasco noun [countable usually singular] something that is completely unsuccessful and goes very badly wrong – used especially about things that have been officially planned, which go very wrong:
The baggage system broke down on the first day the airport was open. It was a complete fiasco.
The fiasco came close to ending de Gaulle's political career.
debacle noun [countable usually singular] formal an event or situation that is a complete failure, because it does not happen in the way that it was officially planned:
the banking debacle that has put our economy at risk
shambles noun [singular] especially British English if a situation or event is a shambles, it is completely unsuccessful because it has been very badly planned or organized, and no one seems to know what to do:
The first few shows were a shambles, but things soon got better.
washout noun [singular] informal a failure – used when something is so bad that it would be better if it had not happened:
The play wasn’t a complete washout; the acting was okay.
His most recent and ambitious project, a big-budget Hollywood film, was a washout with both critics and audiences alike.
turkey noun [countable] informal something that is so bad and unsuccessful that you think the people involved should be embarrassed about it – a very informal use:
At the time most people thought the car was a complete turkey.
Since then he has appeared in a string of turkeys.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲