Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

See What's Trending Now See More Trending Words

without fail

Definition of without fail

1 —used to stress that something always happens
  • Every day, without fail, he has toast and coffee for breakfast.
2 —used to stress that something will definitely happen
  • She promised that she would be there without fail.

Explore Merriam-Webster

alt-59e673567065d
The History of the Word 'Terrorism'
video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066
tycoon
17 English Words that Come From Japanese
alt-59e60c9d3e5ea
Trending: McCain: Half-Baked, 'Spurious' Nationalism

Word by Word Definitions

fail play

  1. : to lose strength : weaken

  2. : to fade or die away

  3. : to stop functioning normally

  1. : failure

  2. : a failure (as by a security dealer) to deliver or receive securities within a prescribed period after purchase or sale

See the full definition of fail

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up without fail? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

malign

play

to speak evil of

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. spurious of a deceitful nature or quality

  2. righteous We provide an assortment of definitions

  3. Kafkaesque 'A nightmarish quality'

  4. mike "microphone"

  5. moron “a very stupid person”

SEE ALL

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

alt-59e673567065d
The History of the Word 'Terrorism'

Noah Webster first entered the term in 1840

alt-59e65152518a6
'Regimen' vs. 'Regiment'

The rule of thumb for words about rules

alt-59e50f5a357b4
'Spox' May Go On The Record

From newsroom lingo to the mainstream

alt-59e506c5c02ae
C'mon, Of Course 'Myriad' Is a Noun

For a myriad of reasons

Ask the Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

knupfer-painting-solon-before-croesus
Forms of Government Quiz

Name that government! Or something like that.

Take the quiz
rembrandt-painting-a-young-scholar-and-his-tutor
Original Meanings Quiz

A quiz for the pedantic and those annoyed by them!

Take the quiz
Spell It
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Take the quiz
Add Diction
Add Diction

Build a chain of words by adding one letter at a time.

Play the game