failure

failure

noun

Definition of FAILURE

1

the nonperformance of an assigned or expected action <your failure to check the batteries in the smoke detector could have tragic results>

Synonyms default, delinquency, dereliction, misprision, neglect, negligence, nonfeasance, oversight

Related Words carelessness, heedlessness, inadvertence, inadvertency, laxity

Near Antonyms compliance, discharge, fulfillment (or fulfilment)

2

a falling short of one's goals <the failure of the school's fund-raising drive was a big disappointment to all>

Synonyms collapse, crash, cropper, defeat, fizzle, nonachievement, nonsuccess

Related Words futility, uselessness; ineffectiveness, ineffectuality, ineffectualness, inefficaciousness, inefficacy; deficiency, inadequacy, inadequateness, insufficiency; disappointment, letdown, setback

Near Antonyms victory, win

Antonyms accomplishment, achievement, success

3

something that has failed <the students' first attempt to build a homemade rocket was a disappointing failure>

Synonyms bomb, bummer, bust, catastrophe, clinker, clunker, debacle (also débâcle), disaster, dud, fiasco, fizzle, flop, frost, lemon, loser, miss, shipwreck, turkey, washout

Related Words also-ran, disappointment, dog, has-been, near miss; botch, hash, mess, muddle, shambles; nonevent; nonstarter

Near Antonyms corker, crackerjack (also crackajack), dandy, jim-dandy, phenomenon

Antonyms blockbuster, hit, smash, success, winner

4

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>

Synonyms crunch, dearth, deficit, drought (also drouth), failure, famine, inadequacy, inadequateness, insufficiency, lack, lacuna, paucity, pinch, poverty, scantiness, scarceness, scarcity, shortage, undersupply, want

Related Words absence, omission; meagerness, poorness, skimpiness; necessity, need, privation

Near Antonyms bountifulness, copiousness; excess, overabundance, oversupply, surfeit, surplus

Antonyms abundance, adequacy, amplitude, opulence, plenitude, plenty, sufficiency, wealth

5

the inability to pay one's debts <years of prolonged economic depression, when business failures were common>

Synonyms bankruptcy, failure, ruin

Related Words Chapter 11

Antonyms solvency