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 of failure default, delinquency, dereliction, misprision, neglect, negligence, nonfeasance, oversight Words Related to failure carelessness, heedlessness, inadvertence, inadvertency, laxity Near Antonyms of failure 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 of failure collapse, crash, cropper, defeat, fizzle, nonachievement, nonsuccess Words Related to failure futility, uselessness; ineffectiveness, ineffectuality, ineffectualness, inefficaciousness, inefficacy; deficiency, inadequacy, inadequateness, insufficiency; disappointment, letdown, setback Near Antonyms of failure victory, win Antonyms of failure accomplishment, achievement, success

3 something that has failed the students' first attempt to build a homemade rocket was a disappointing failure Synonyms of failure bomb, bummer, bust, catastrophe, clinker, clunker, debacle (also débâcle), disaster, dud, fiasco, fizzle, flop, frost, lemon, loser, miss, shipwreck, turkey, washout Words Related to failure also-ran, disappointment, dog, has-been, near miss; botch, hash, mess, muddle, shambles; nonevent; nonstarter Near Antonyms of failure corker, crackerjack (also crackajack), dandy, jim-dandy, phenomenon Antonyms of failure 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 of failure crunch, dearth, deficit, drought (also drouth), deficiency, famine, inadequacy, inadequateness, insufficiency, lack, lacuna, paucity, pinch, poverty, scantiness, scarceness, scarcity, shortage, undersupply, wantWords Related to failure absence, omission; meagerness, poorness, skimpiness; necessity, need, privationNear Antonyms of failure bountifulness, copiousness; excess, overabundance, oversupply, surfeit, surplusAntonyms of failure 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 of failure bankruptcy, insolvency, ruinWords Related to failure Chapter 11Antonyms of failure solvency