failure
English
Etymology
From Anglo-Norman failer, from Old French faillir (“to fail”).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈfeɪ.ljə/
- (Canada, General American) IPA(key): /ˈfeɪ.ljɚ/
Audio (CAN) (file)
Noun
failure (countable and uncountable, plural failures)
- State or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, opposite of success.
- 2012 May 5, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport:
- For Liverpool, their season will now be regarded as a relative disappointment after failure to add the FA Cup to the Carling Cup and not mounting a challenge to reach the Champions League places.
- 2012 April 23, Angelique Chrisafis, “François Hollande on top but far right scores record result in French election”, in the Guardian:
- Sarkozy's total will be seen as a personal failure. It is the first time an outgoing president has failed to win a first-round vote in the past 50 years and makes it harder for Sarkozy to regain momentum.
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- Omission to do something, whether or not it was attempted, especially something that ought to have been done.
- An object, person or endeavour in a state of failure or incapable of success.
- Termination of the ability of an item to perform its required function; breakdown.
- 2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21:
- Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. When a series of bank failures made this impossible, there was widespread anger, leading to the public humiliation of symbolic figures.
- 2019 October, Ian Walmsley, “Cleaning up”, in Modern Railways, page 42:
- But as with individual train failures you have to tackle every one as it arises and assume it will happen again, which it will, if you don't do something about it.
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- Bankruptcy.
Synonyms
- (person incapable of success): loser
Antonyms
- (state or condition): success, triumph
Hyponyms
- ground failure, single-point failure, power failure
Derived terms
- congestive heart failure
- dam failure
- failure rate
- failure to launch
- failure to prepare is preparing to fail
- failure to thrive
- heart-failure
- heart failure
- market failure
- mean distance between failure
- mean time to failure
- single point of failure
- structural failure
Related terms
- fail
Translations
state or condition opposite of success
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object or person incapable of success
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termination of the ability of an item to perform its required function
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