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), deficiency, famine, inadequacy, inadequateness, insufficiency, lack, lacuna, paucity, pinch, poverty, scantiness, scarceness, scarcity, shortage, undersupply, wantRelated Words absence, omission; meagerness, poorness, skimpiness; necessity, need, privationNear Antonyms bountifulness, copiousness; excess, overabundance, oversupply, surfeit, surplusAntonyms 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, insolvency, ruinRelated Words Chapter 11Antonyms solvency