as in weaknesses
a defect in character
we could talk about your failings, but it would take all night
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Recent Examples of failings
The president has repeatedly complained that the American education system, libraries, museums and other sites spend too much time focusing on the nation's failings instead of its successes.
—
Trevor Hughes, USA Today, 10 Nov. 2025
The editor of the Pine Bluff Commercial earned second place for commentary in a contest organized by America's Newspapers for his coverage of the failings of a city tax initiative that promised civic and economic restoration.
—Grant Lancaster, Arkansas Online, 7 Nov. 2025
The new report only adds to a number of security failings exposed by the heist.
—Joseph Ataman, CNN Money, 6 Nov. 2025
The seemingly dry battles over document production, though, are vitally important to understanding how this troubled segment of the health care business works, and what might be done to address its failings.
—Teri Sforza, Oc Register, 6 Nov. 2025
Everyday absurdities, moral failings and big-city tension carry a pointed social sting.
—Emiliano De Pablos, Variety, 29 Oct. 2025
There were festering family vendettas; botched forensics; staggering police failings.
—Heidi Blake, New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2025
Like every human creation, Wikipedia has flaws and failings.
—Jimmy Wales, Time, 28 Oct. 2025
One of the big failings that happens in a lean transformation is when senior management doesn’t take on that responsibility of leading and teaching.
—Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 24 Oct. 2025
Trevor Hughes, USA Today, 10 Nov. 2025
The editor of the Pine Bluff Commercial earned second place for commentary in a contest organized by America's Newspapers for his coverage of the failings of a city tax initiative that promised civic and economic restoration.
—Grant Lancaster, Arkansas Online, 7 Nov. 2025
The new report only adds to a number of security failings exposed by the heist.
—Joseph Ataman, CNN Money, 6 Nov. 2025
The seemingly dry battles over document production, though, are vitally important to understanding how this troubled segment of the health care business works, and what might be done to address its failings.
—Teri Sforza, Oc Register, 6 Nov. 2025
Everyday absurdities, moral failings and big-city tension carry a pointed social sting.
—Emiliano De Pablos, Variety, 29 Oct. 2025
There were festering family vendettas; botched forensics; staggering police failings.
—Heidi Blake, New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2025
Like every human creation, Wikipedia has flaws and failings.
—Jimmy Wales, Time, 28 Oct. 2025
One of the big failings that happens in a lean transformation is when senior management doesn’t take on that responsibility of leading and teaching.
—Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 24 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for failings
Noun
-
Majumdar’s psychological precision is what makes the novel’s geopolitical weaknesses feel so pronounced.—
Tope Folarin,
The Atlantic,
8 Nov. 2025
-
At the time, many companies were launching AI tools like chatbots and internal agents at a remarkable pace, but security safeguards struggled to keep up, which would allow malicious actors to spot weaknesses with methods that cybersecurity tools were never built to detect.—
Daniel Fusch,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Yet the play’s positive components do not make up for its faults.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
10 Nov. 2025
-
Carol is suspicious of the human race's collective new attitude, and sets out trying to figure out how to revert the world back to its old self, faults and all.—
Christopher Rudolph,
PEOPLE,
7 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
In the Eastern Church, God isn’t interested in finding someone to punish for our sins; God is interested in becoming one with the physical universe, including humanity.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
5 Nov. 2025
-
The tragic death of the Sepulveda family patriarch calls his descendants back to Villa Sepulveda, a Spanish colonial manor in a coconut plantation; but a landslide traps the guests inside, transforming the funeral plans into a supernatural reckoning of sins.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
This iteration of the Prius addresses the shortcomings of its predecessor, transforming the hatchback into an exciting, fun car that can go the distance on a single tank of gas.—
Charles Singh,
USA Today,
7 Nov. 2025
-
The carbon market has been beset by shortcomings and subject to accusations of greenwashing, however.—
Jeff Young,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Failings.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/failings. Accessed 13 Nov. 2025.
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