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Definition: Failure |
FailureNoun1. An act that fails. 2. An event that does not accomplish its intended purpose. 3. Lack of success. 4. A person with a record of failing; someone who loses consistently. 5. An unexpected omission; "he resented my failure to return his call". 6. Loss of ability to function normally. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "failure" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references) |
Note: Failure \Fail"ure\, noun. [From Fail.]. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Computing | Failure The inability of a system or system component to perform a required function within specified limits. A failure may be produced when a fault is encountered. (1996-05-13). Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing. |
19th Century Satire | The quickest method known for making money. Source: Foolish Dictionary, 1904. |
Biographical Satire | FAILURE, T. H. E., a failure. Supposed to have idled away his younger days. Believed to have dissipated. Said not to have applied himself to school or business. Found fault with life and everybody, but was never wrong himself. Unpopular. A great blamer. A lover of revolvers, rivers, and the poor house. Frequently seen in the under world. Ambition: The other fellow. Recreation: Too much. Address: All large cities. Clubs: None. Epitaph: Here Lies A Man Who Never Really Tried. Source: Who was Who: 5000BC - 1914. |
Building & Civil Engineering | The condition at which a structure ceases to fulfil its purpose. It may be due to leakage, deflection, cracking, etc. but it usually does not involve rupture. . Source: European Union. (references) |
Chemical Industry | In bonded products, either separation occurring wholly within the glue line, (cohesion failure)or between it and the adherend(adhesion failure)or else fracture in the wood near the glue line(adherend failure, wood failure), all generally expressed as a percentage of the total glueline area examined. Source: European Union. (references) |
Dream Interpretation | For a lover, this is sometimes of contrary significance. To dream that he fails in his suit, signifies that he only needs more masterfulness and energy in his daring, as he has already the love and esteem of his sweetheart. Contrary dreams are those in which the dreamer suffers fear, and not injury. For a young woman to dream that her life is going to be a failure, denotes that she is not applying her opportunities to good advantage. For a business man to dream that he has made a failure, forebodes loss and bad management, which should be corrected, or failure threatens to materialize in earnest. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted .... |
Engineering & Technology | The inability of materials and structures to endure or accomplish the work for which they were selected and designed. Source: European Union. (references) |
Geography | Fracture or rupture of a rock or other material that has been stressed beyond its ultimate strength. Source: European Union. (references) |
Industry | The physical damage to a body or structure under stress. Source: European Union. (references) |
Mechanical Engineering | Accidental failure of a machine or installation. Source: European Union. (references) |
Metallurgy | An event or events under the effect of stresses set up in a structure and which put it out of service, or, in a test piece bringing about rupture or deformation beyond a critical value in a destructive test. Source: European Union. (references) |
Meteorology & Standards | The termination of the ability of a functional unit to perform its required function. Source: European Union. (references) |
Post & Telecom | An unwanted spacing condition causing incorrect recording in a telegraph receiver. Source: European Union. (references) |
Public Administration | The diminution or cessation of the ability of a device, equipment or other item to perform the function expected of it. Source: European Union. (references) |
Transportation | The occurrence of any condition which renders the system incapable of operating within its full operational capabilities. Four classes of failure can be distinguished on the basis of severity:Class 1:a failure which may lead directly to unsafe conditions or to an accident. Example:the loss of a vehicle's brakes; Class 2:a failure which could require removal of the vehicle from revenue service during its scheduled period of operation. Example:the breakdown in service of a propulsion system; Class 3:a failure which causes discomfort or inconvenience to the passengers, but does not cause an interruption in revenue service. Example:partial failure of lights in a passenger car; Class 4:a failure which does not endanger passenger safety, interrupt service, or cause discomfort to the passengers, but represents a reduced standard of performance for a component associated with basic equipment functioning. Example:a faulty air filter or a defective engine. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Failure is defined in ISO/CD 10303-226 as the lack of ability of a component, equipment, sub system, or system to perform its intended function as designed. Failure may be the result of one or many faults.Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Failure."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
A person is said to be in heart failure when their heart cannot pump blood at the rate needed to maintain normal metabolism.Symptoms include respiratory distress (dyspnea), especially when it is worsened by lying down (orthopnea), fatigue, weakness, episodes of severe shortness of breath at night (paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea). Edema, especially of the legs, may occur. Enlargement of the heart (cardiomegaly) is one of the criteria for diagnosis.
In most cases when the term is used, especially when given as a cause of death, congestive heart failure (CHF) is meant.
Treatment can improve the condition by:
The term heart failure is frequently misused, especially when given as cause of death: it is not synonymous with "cessation of heartbeat".
- removing precipitating causes and treating underlying causes
- treatment of infection, anemia, thyrotoxicosis, arrhythmia, or hypertension
- increasing the efficiency with which the heart muscle pumps
- see digitalis
- decreasing cardiac work load by increasing pre-load and decreasing after-load
- see vasodilators, diuretics, ACE inhibitors.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Heart failure."
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
| FAR | English | Failure analysis report | Computing |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Synonyms: FailureSynonyms: loser (n), nonstarter (n), unsuccessful person (n). (additional references) |
| Antonyms: achiever (n), success (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Adversity | Noun: adversity, evil; failure; bad luck, ill luck, evil luck, adverse luck, hard fortune, hard hap, hard luck, hard lot; frowns of fortune; evil dispensation, evil star, evil genius; vicissitudes of life, ups and downs of life, broken fortunes; hard case, hard lines, hard life; sea of troubles; peck of troubles; hell upon earth; slough of despond. |
Dereliction of Duty | Noun: dereliction of duty; fault; (guilt); sin; (vice); non-observance, non-performance; neglect, relaxation, infraction, violation, transgression, failure, evasion; dead letter. |
Guilt | Misconduct, misbehavior, misdoing, misdeed; malpractice, fault, sin, error, transgression; dereliction, delinquency; indiscretion, lapse, slip, trip, faux pas, peccadillo; flaw, blot, omission; failing, failure; break, bad break , capital crime, delictum. |
Impotence | Inefficacy; (inutility); failure. |
Nonobservance | Noun: nonobservance; evasion, inobservance, failure, omission, neglect, laches, laxity, informality. |
Nonpayment | Insolvency, bankruptcy, failure; insufficiency; run upon a bank; overdrawn account. |
Shortcoming | Noun: shortcoming, failure; falling short; Verb: default, defalcation; leeway; labor in vain, no go. |
Incompleteness; imperfection; insufficiency; noncompletion; failure. | |
Vice | Infirmity; weakness; Adjective: weakness of the flesh, frailty, imperfection; error; weak side; foible; failing, failure; crying sin, besetting sin; defect, deficiency; cloven foot. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Remember George, No man is a failure who has friends (It's a Wonderful Life; writing credit: Philip Van Doren Stern; Frances Goodrich) You're not a failure kid. It's just that your ideas are silly and dumb (Freakazoid!; writing credit: Alan Burnett; Paul Dini) Oh Lisa, trying is just the first step toward failure. (The Simpsons; writing credit: Artur Brauner; Paul Hengge) There is no room for failure now. The innocent must die (Lashou shentan; writing credit: Barry Wong; John Woo) I don't need it. I'm cloaked in failure! (Jerry Maguire; writing credit: Cameron Crowe) | |
Lyrics | Success or failure will not alter it (THINGS CAN ONLY GET BETTER; performing artist: Howard Jones) I ain't no G, I'm just a regular failure (Cowboy; performing artist: KID ROCK) Folks said that I was a failure (Ride Wit Me (Featuring City Spud); performing artist: Nelly) In fact, his name became to synonmous with failure, that for years to come, (Mephisto and Kevin; performing artist: Primus) | |
Clever | Failure is opportunity in disguise. (references; author: unknown) Remember that failure is an event, not a person. (references; author: unknown) Success always occurs in private, and failure in full view. (references; author: unknown) A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | A Successful Failure (1934) The Fighting Failure (1926) A Self-Made Failure (1924) The Failure (1917) A Successful Failure (1913) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References | |||
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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Consumer Goods |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
![]() | Bilby tower failure at Station Flatlick due to tornado Triangulation party of E. L. Jones. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. | ![]() | Lieutenant (Junior Grade) William Belden ejects from his Douglas A-4E "Skyhawk" attack aircraft (Bureau # 150117) as it rolls into the carrier's port catwalk after suffering a brake failure following recovery, 2 July 1970. LtJG Belden ejected safely and was rescued by Shangri-La's helicopter. Credit: NAVY. |
![]() | As a man he was a complete failure, but as a gull -- well he believed he might have been a pretty decent -- gull. Credit: Library of Congress. | ![]() | Inviting the undertaker. Ignore the fact that pedestrians die in rural districts due to unlighted highways, speeding cars and failure to walk facing the traffic. Be right. Walk left. Credit: Library of Congress. |
![]() | Ludendorff bridge at Remagen after its capture on March 7, 1945, showing U.S. 1st Army troops crossing the Rhine into Germany. Failure of the Germans to destroy the bridge gave U.S. forces their first foothold east of the Rhine / International News photo. Credit: Library of Congress. | ![]() | People, some with picket signs, gather outside Lincoln School in Englewood, N.J. protesting the city's failure to end racial segregation. Credit: Library of Congress. |
![]() | Migrant agricultural worker's family. Seven hungry children. Mother aged thirty-two. Father is a native Californian. Destitute in pea picker's camp, Nipomo, California, because of the failure of the early pea crop. These people had just sold their tent in. Credit: Library of Congress. | ![]() | Near Visalia, California. Rehabilitation family. Farm operations changed from failure to success by following plan devised by Rural Rehabilitation supervisor. Credit: Library of Congress. |
![]() | Due to the failure of congress to appropriate money for public pools in Washington ... Credit: Library of Congress. | ![]() | McLubberty, himself. "My life has been an awful failure!". Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Author Unknown | Success is failure turned inside out. |
Earl Wilson | Success is simply a matter of luck. Ask any failure. |
George Canning | Indecision and delays are the parents of failure. |
James Russell Lowell | Not failure, but low aim, is crime. |
| Not failure but low aim is often our greatest sin. | |
John Wooden | Failure to prepare is preparing to fail. |
Robert Browning | A minute's success pays the failure of years. |
William Feather | No man is a failure who is enjoying life. |
William Whewell | Every failure is a step to success. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
Amendment to US Constitution | 1795-2021 | The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay poll tax or other tax. (reference) |
Communist Manifesto | 1848 | For how can people, when once they understand their system, fail to see in it the best possible plan of the best possible state of society? Hence, they reject all political, and especially all revolutionary, action; they wish to attain their ends by peaceful means, and endeavour, by small experiments, necessarily doomed to failure, and by the force of example, to pave the way for the new social Gospel. (reference) |
Treaty of Versailles | 1919 | In the event of any failure to carry out such an award, the Council shall propose what steps should be taken to give effect thereto. (reference) |
John F. Kennedy | 1961 | In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. (reference) |
Roe v. Wade | 1973 | A childless married couple (the Does), the wife not being pregnant, separately attacked the laws, basing alleged injury on the future possibilities of contraceptive failure, pregnancy, unpreparedness for parenthood, and impairment of the wife's health. (reference) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Emma | Austen, Jane | It soon flies over the present failure, and begins to hope again |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | Even when they fail, they are venerable, and it is perhaps in failure that they have the greater majesty |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | The imitation was a failure and the owner had known it was a failure |
Walden | Thoreau, Henry David | I desire to speak impartially on this point, and as one not interested in the success or failure of the present economical and social arrangements |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Eventually, PSC can cause liver failure. (references) | |
Failure of an infant to gain weight or grow normally. (references) | ||
Death is usually caused by renal failure or infection. (references) | ||
Business | Market preference is the major indicator for success or failure of any product to enter Thailand. (references) | |
The role of the Chinese partner in the success or failure of a joint venture cannot be over-emphasized. (references) | ||
This is a last mile access problem caused mainly by the Telcos and the failure or delay to provide the lines. (references) | ||
Children | Turkey | Companies who employ more than 50 employees are required to hire persons with disabilities as 2 percent of their employee pool, although there is no penalty for failure to comply. (references) |
Dominican Republic | The ages at which these children work, the hours they work, and their failure to comply with compulsory school attendance all violate the law, but the Government has not been able to combat this practice. (references) | |
Hungary | The statement followed the publication of a report by the Ombudsman's office that found that the high proportion of Romani children in "special schools" for the mentally disabled was a sign of prejudice and a failure of the public education system. (references) | |
Civil Liberties | Slovak Republic | The amendment's failure permits allow the continued prosecution of Kratsky. (references) |
Ethiopia | In previous years, papers have been shut down for failure to meet this requirement. (references) | |
Tunisia | The code stipulates fines and confiscation for failure to comply with these provisions. (references) | |
Discrimination | Hong Kong | In May the UNCESCR concluded that Hong Kong's failure to prohibit race discrimination in the private sector constituted a breach of its obligations under the ICESCR. (references) |
Economic History | Dominica | French invasions in 1795 and 1805 ended in failure. (references) |
Greece | Some department stores have closed, due to failure to adjust new shopping trends. (references) | |
Human Rights | Uzbekistan | Judges may be removed for crimes or failure to fulfill their obligations. (references) |
Pakistan | Some persons remain in prison after completion of their terms for failure to pay Diyat. (references) | |
Guatemala | The case before the IACHR for the Government's failure to provide justice remained pending. (references) | |
Indigenous People | Brazil | Due partly to the Government's failure to provide adequate medical care as required by law, indigenous people have suffered epidemics of malaria, measles, and tuberculosis. (references) |
Japan | In February several nongovernmental groups, including the Ainu Association of Hokkaido and the Citizens' Diplomatic Center for the Rights of Indigenous People, protested the Government's failure to note continuing social and economic discrimination faced by the Ainu in its 2000 report to the CERD. (references) | |
Minorities | Estonia | The language office liberally grants extensions to persons who can explain their failure to meet the requisite competence level. (references) |
Political Economy | MEXICO | USTR cited Mexico in its April 2001 annual "1377" review for failure to meet its commitments under the WTO Basic Telecommunication Agreement. (references) |
Guatemala | The MINUGUA noted that the majority of human rights violations were the result of the failure of the state to investigate and punish those who break the law. (references) | |
Sri Lanka | Arbitrary arrests (including short-term mass arrests and detentions) continued, often accompanied by failure of the security forces to comply with legal protections. (references) | |
Political Rights | Belgium | Voting in all elections is compulsory, and failure to vote is subject to a nominal fine. (references) |
Singapore | In July J.B. Jeyaretnam, an opposition nonelected M.P. from the WP lost an appeal in a defamation suit and was declared bankrupt for failure to pay the damages awarded against him in previous years. (references) | |
Saint Lucia | The SLP capitalized on the failure of the opposition forces to unite in a national coalition due to a leadership struggle between Odlum, and Sir John Compton, founder of the UWP and a former Prime Minister. (references) | |
Trade | Bolivia | Imported merchandise may be considered abandoned either by an explicit request or by failure to claim it within the required 90 days. (references) |
Greece | Imports of poultry products into Greece from the U.S. were suspended due to failure of the U.S.-E.U. Veterinary Equivalency agreement to include poultry. (references) | |
Denmark | Exporters, however, should carefully follow importer's instructions because failure to do so can cause customs delays and extra expenses which may harm future business. (references) | |
Travel | Vietnam | Restaurants tend to be small private enterprises (virtually no franchises) and have a high failure rate. (references) |
Kenya | Safaris are best undertaken with a minimum of two vehicles so that there is a backup in case of mechanical failure or other emergency. (references) | |
Women | Equatorial Guinea | A 2000 study by CNDH found that as many as 20 persons were detained solely for failure to repay dowries. (references) |
Worker Rights | Bangladesh | Workers have the right to strike in the event of a failure to settle. (references) |
Colombia | The ILO's June report noted the Government's continuing failure to address these criticisms. (references) | |
China | She died the same day that she was moved to a hospital from Drapchi Prison, reportedly from respiratory and heart failure. (references) | |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | DESTINY, n. A tyrant's authority for crime and fool's excuse for failure. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
John McCain | Maybe they'll be most surprised about the part of the presidential campaign where I described my failure in standing up for what I believed in, as far as the confederate flag is concerned. |
Mark Shields | We have to take a break right now. But when we come back, we'll ask the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee about his investigation of what has been called the most massive intelligence failure in U.S. history since Pearl Harbor. |
Robert Novak | Mark, when we asked Congressman Watts about the failure to pass an economic stimulus bill, he blamed it on Tom Daschle. In fact, he blames everything on the Senate majority leader, and I think that is the very intense Republican tactic. |
Rush Limbaugh | But bureaucrats always exempt themselves from responsibility for failure. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
John Adams | 1797-1801 | That communication will confirm the ultimate failure of the measures which have been taken by the Government of the United States toward an amicable adjustment of differences with that power. |
Thomas Jefferson | 1801-1809 | Tripoli, the least considerable of the Barbary States, had come forward with demands unfounded either in right or in compact, and had permitted itself to denounce war on our failure to comply before a given day. |
Andrew Jackson | 1829-1837 | A full explanation has been required of the causes which led to the failure of that movement, but has not yet been received. |
Martin van Buren | 1837-1841 | Fifty years ago its rapid failure was boldly predicted. |
Franklin Pierce | 1853-1857 | If this reasonable expectation be not realized, I frankly confess that one of your leading hopes is doomed to disappointment, and that my efforts in a very important particular must result in a humiliating failure. |
John F. Kennedy | 1961-1963 | In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than in mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. |
Lyndon B. Johnson | 1963-1969 | But as we learn, through success and failure, we are changing our strategy and we are trying to improve our tactics. |
Jimmy Carter | 1977-1981 | The failure of our Nation's capital stock to grow at a rate that keeps pace with its labor force has clearly been one cause of our productivity slowdown. |
Ronald Reagan | 1981-1989 | Our reluctance for conflict should not be misjudged as a failure of will. |
Bill Clinton | 1993-2001 | We can be proud that after decades of finger-pointing and failure, together we ended the old welfare system. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Failure" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 99.99% of the time. "Failure" is used about 7,755 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 99.99% | 7,754 | 1,248 |
| Total | 100.00% | 7,755 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "failure": abnormal failure ♦ action for failure to fulfil obligation ♦ acute kidney failure ♦ acute renal failure ♦ assessed failure rate ♦ assessed mean time to failure ♦ bank failure ♦ be a failure ♦ brake failure ♦ Cardiovascular failure ♦ cascade failure ♦ catastrophic failure ♦ cause failure ♦ causing failure ♦ chronic kidney failure ♦ chronic renal failure ♦ circulatory failure ♦ cohesive failure ♦ communication failure ♦ confession of failure ♦ Congestive heart failure ♦ coronary failure ♦ crop failure ♦ current failure ♦ dam failure ♦ Dental Restoration Failure ♦ Diastolic heart failure ♦ discharge failure ♦ doomed to failure ♦ drift failure ♦ electrical failure ♦ engine failure ♦ equipment failure ♦ Equipment Failure Analysis ♦ extrapolated failure rate ♦ extrapolated mean time to failure ♦ facility failure ♦ failure criteria ♦ failure in time ♦ failure load ♦ failure of heart ♦ failure prediction ♦ failure rate ♦ failure recovery ♦ failure to appear ♦ failure to appreciate ♦ failure to comply with the regulations governing the protection of tenants of domestic and commercial properties ♦ failure to pay ♦ failure to pay on time ♦ failure to perform sex ♦ failure to prevent an illegal publication ♦ Failure to Thrive ♦ failure tree analysis ♦ frustrated failure ♦ Fulminant Hepatic Failure ♦ function degrading failure ♦ function permitting failure ♦ function preventing failure ♦ general Protection Failure ♦ general shear failure ♦ gradual failure ♦ heart failure ♦ human failure probability ♦ induced failure ♦ invisible failure ♦ Kidney Failure ♦ left ventricular failure ♦ light failure ♦ Liver Failure ♦ married failure ♦ mean time between failure ♦ mean time between failure observed ♦ mishandling failure ♦ misuse failure ♦ motor failure ♦ Multiple Organ Failure ♦ negation by failure ♦ passive failure of automatic systems ♦ power failure ♦ power failure point ♦ predicted failure rate ♦ Prosthesis Failure ♦ renal failure ♦ Respiratory failure ♦ right ventricular failure ♦ rock failure ♦ spark failure ♦ sudden failure ♦ suffer a failure ♦ Systolic heart failure ♦ task failure probability ♦ therapeutic failure ♦ Treatment Failure ♦ undetected failure ♦ undetected failure time ♦ unexpected failure. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "failure": failure-directed testing, failure-driven, Failure-in-england. | |
Ending with "failure": retrieval-failure. | |
Containing "failure": lf-you-really-loved-me-you'd-love-my-failure-too. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "failure"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | bankrot (bankrupt, bankruptcy). (various references) | |
Albanian | falimentim (bankruptcy, crash, dilapidation), rrëzim (canting, collapse, crash, decay, demolition, deposition, destruction, dethronement, eradiation, fall, plough, plow, plump, prostration), punë e dështuar, prishje (abolition, annulment, blasting, breach, breaking, breakup, chasm, collapse, corruption, damage, debasement, decay, decomposition, defacement, defeat, defilement, depravation, depravity, deterioration, discord, dissolution, obliteration, quarrel, rancidity, rancidness, rot, split up, spoilage, stymie, taint, vitiation, warp, wrecking), neglizhim, mossukses (bad luck, ill luck, no go, reverse, rot), moskryerje, mbetje (drift, odds and ends, refuse, remnant, residue, shorts, tailings), ligështim (falter), lëshim (coast, concession, discharge, droop, drop, emission, flaccidity, flagging, funk, issuance, issue, launch, launching, laxity, laxness, megrims, profligacy, release, relief, sag, tolerance), dobësim (breakdown, debilitation, decline, decrepitude, depravation, dilution, ebb, emaciation, emasculation, enervation, exhaustion, flagging, wane, weakening), dështim (abortion, anticlimax, bust, collapse, come down, crash, cropper, discomfiture, fail, failing, fiasco, fizzle, flash in the pan, flop, frost, frustration, licking, miscarriage, no go, reverse), dështak (abortion, loser), dëmtim (damnification, defacement, defect, deterioration, detriment, disadvantage, disservice, harm, hurt, impairment, injury, lesion, Mar, wound), avari (breakdown, hitch). (various references) | |
Arabic | فشل (balk, be failed, be unable to do, be unsuccessful, come to nothing, cower, defeat, dud, fail, fiasco, fizzle out, flop, frustration, go awry, go wrong, lose courage, lose ground, lose heart, make a hash of it, miscarry, miss, miss fire, miss the mark, torpedo, trip up, unsuccess, washout), قصور (inability, insufficiency), تعب (fatigue, go flat out, grow tired, languishment, languor, lassitude, pan, punish, stress, take trouble, tell on, tire, tiredness, toil, try, tucker, weariness, weary), تخلف عن القيام بكذا, عجز (balk, buttock, decrepitude, deficiency, disability, emasculation, famine, gap, inability, incapability, incapacitate, incompetence, infirmity, paralyse, paralysis, paralyze, poorness, posterior, rump, shortage), ضعف (attenuation, backwardness, crack, craze, debility, decrepitude, defect, delicacy, emaciation, enervation, failing, fainting, feebleness, flabbiness, flightiness, frailness, frailty, grogginess, imitators, impairment, impotence, inadequacy, incapability, infirmity, lameness, languor, limp, limpness, shakiness, sickliness, sleeplessness, tenuousness, twice, uneasiness, weak spot, weaklings, weakness), خيبة (discomfiture, fiasco), إفلاس (bankruptcy, bust, fall, going into liquidation, insolvency, smash), إخفاق (baulk, bust, deadlock, fizzle out, frost, lemon, miscarriage, miss, screw, setback, smash, turkey, unsuccess, wall, wrack), شخص مخفق (flop). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | фалит (crash, ruin, smash, smash up), отпадане (decay, decline, droping out, fall out, falling away, obsolescence), несъстоятелност (insolvency), неустойка (default, forfeit), неуспех (baffle, down, fiasco, fizzle, miscarriage, mishap, repulse, reverse, slip up, unsuccess), липса (absence, default, defect, deficiency, lack, penury, poverty, privation, scarcity, shortage, shortcoming, stringency, ullage, want), провал (bankruptcy, collapse, downfall, mucker, ruin, sucks, unsuccess), поражение (backdown, baffle, beating, defeat, injury, knockout, lesion, overturn, repulse, reverse, smash, walloping, whipping), повреда (breakdown, conk, damage, defect, fault, flaw, hurt, injury, lesion, mischief, scathe, trouble). (various references) | |
Chinese | 失败 (Abortive, Defeat, defeatist, Fail, Failed, Failing, Miscarried, miscarry, Miscarrying). (various references) | |
Czech | fiasko (disaster, fiasco, flop, squib, wash out, washout), zanedbání (neglect, nonfeasance, omission), selhání (lapse, malfunction, misfire), porucha (breakdown, bug, defect, derangement, disorder, fault, lesion), opomenutí (laches, neglect, silence), nezdar (knock, miscarriage, reversal, set back, setback), nedostatek (absence, defect, deficiency, deficit, demerit, drawback, failing, fault, inadequacy, insufficiency, lack, non-availability, penury, poverty, privation, scarcity, shortage, shortcoming, want), neúspìch (reverse), krach (bust, collapse, smash). (various references) | |
Danish | fejl (aberration, error, mistake), forstyrrelse (disorder, disordering, disturbance, incident, interference, jam, jamming, operating trouble, perturbation, to disturb, trouble), funktionssvigt, maskinstop (breakdown, trouble), brud (bride, fiancée, fragment, lump, piece), driftsforstyrrelse (disturbance, operating trouble, trouble), havari (average, breakdown, trouble), jordfaldshul (collapse sinkhole, dolina, doline, leach hole, rock failure, shakehole, sink, sinkhole, solution sinkhole, sotch), abort (abortion, miscarriage), maskinskade (breakdown, trouble), tegnforstyrrelse (extra, fade), materielfejl (hard error, hardware error), motorskade (breakdown, trouble), motorstop (breakdown, flame out, trouble), sammenbrud (breakdown, break-up, collapse, crash, crushing, settlement, sinking, subsidence, trouble), sammenstyrtning (collapse, rock failure, sinking), standsning (halt, stop), svigt (breakdown), svigten, maskinfejl (hard error, hardware error). (various references) | |
Dutch | flop (abortion, fiasco), fiasco (abortion, fiasco), echec (abortion, fiasco), debâcle (abortion, decay, fiasco). (various references) | |
Esperanto | fiasko (abortion, fiasco), malsukcesego (flop), bankroto (bankruptcy). (various references) | |
Faeroese | miseydna (abortion, fiasco), húsagangur (bankruptcy). (various references) | |
Finnish | fiasko (fiasco), murtuma (breach, break, fracture), epäonnistunut yritys, häiriö (atmospherics, disorder, disturbance, inconvenience, interference), konerikko (breakdown), konkurssi (bankruptcy), laiminlyönti (neglect, negligence, omission), epäonnistuminen, luhistuma (rock failure), ylimääräinen miinus (fade), romahdus (breakdown, collapse, crash), sortuma (rock failure), vararikko (bankruptcy, insolvency), vaurioituminen, vika (defect, deficiency, fault, flaw), vikaantuminen (breach of security), vioittuminen, laiterikko (breakdown, trouble). (various references) | |
French | faillite (fall), dérangement (fault, fault condition), défaillance (failing, fainting), avortement, échec. (various references) | |
Frisian | fallisemint (bankruptcy), bankerot (bankrupt, bankruptcy). (various references) | |
German | Ausfall (blackout, breakdown, cancellation, dropping out, loss, lunge, non-departure, omission, pass, retirement, Sally, sortie, stoppage, thrust), Versagen (be a failure, break down, breakdown, defection, deny, fail, failing, flop, give out, go, malfunction, refuse, reject, to break down, to flop, withhold), versager (abnegator, abnegators, dead beat, flop), misserfolg (flop, Miss), Mißerfolg (abortion, fiasco), fehlschlag (defeat), Betriebsausfall. (various references) | |
Greek | αποτυχία (a near miss, abortion, defection, dud, flivver, flop, flunk, miscarriage, misfire, non event, setback, washout). (various references) | |
Hebrew | ממע" (lapse, slipping), מע" (lapse, slipping), לקוי (blemish, defect, defective, deficiency, deficient, eclipse, failing, fault, faulty, ill, imperfection, inadequacy, inadequate, shortcoming, spoilt, stricken, unsound, vicious, wanting), שבר (break, breakage, breaking, collapse, crisis, fracture, mishap, rupture, splinter), פשיטת ר'ל (bankruptcy, insolvency), כישלון, כשלון (abortion, downfall, fail, fiasco, stumbling), כשל (failing, lapse, slip), "כשלות (failing), "חי (destruction, downfall). (various references) | |
Hungarian | hiba (aberration, blemish, bloomer, blooper, blue, bobble, clinker, default, demerit, error, failing, fault, flaw, flub-up, glitch, inaccuracy, lapse, malformation, mischief, mistake, shortcoming, trouble, wrong), balsiker (miscarriage, wash-out), szervi elégtelenség, pályatévesztett ember, mulasztás (default, fault, malpractice, omission), meghibásodás (foul-up, malfunction), megbukás, leromlás (ageing, cachexy), kudarc (abortion, beating, bust, defeat, discomfiture, fiasco, fizzle, kick in the pants, miscarriage, repulse, set-back, squib, throw back), elromlás (corruption), elmulasztás (omission), elégtelenség (defect, deficiency, inadequacy, inefficiency, insufficiency, shortcoming, shortfall). (various references) | |
Icelandic | fósturlát (abortion, miscarriage). (various references) | |
Indonesian | kegagalan (abortive attempt, bust). (various references) | |
Italian | fallimento (abortion, bankrupt, bankruptcy, bust, crackup, defeat, failing, fiasco, miscarriage, smashup, washout), guasto (addle, addled, bad, breakdown, broken, broken down, damage, damaged, defective, fault, out of order, rotten, trouble, wrong). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 不覚 (blunder, defeat, indiscretion, mistake, negligence), 喧嘩 (brawl, quarrel), 外れ (end, extremity, miss, outskirts, tip, verge), 失態 (discredit, disgrace, error, fault, mismanagement), 失敗 (blunder, mistake), 失敗 (blunder, mistake), 不合 (disqualification, rejection), 不良 (badness, delinquent, inferiority), 後れ (backwardness, defeat, lag), 不首尾 (disfavour, disgrace, fizzle), 不結果 (poor results), 不成立 (rejection, rupture), 不成績 (bad record, poor result), 不成功 (abortive), 不"たり (unpopularity), 失" (discredit, disgrace, error, fault, mismanagement), 綻 (bankruptcy), 蹉跌 (setback, stumbling), 齟齬 (conflict, contradiction, discord, discrepancy, frustration, inconsistency), 落第 (dropping out of a class), 落後者 (dropout, straggler), '星 (black dot, black spot, bull's eye), '円 (black dot, black spot, bull's eye), 出来損い (dead loss, good-for-nothing, washout), "餅 (collapse, fiasco, rice-cake painting, something of little value), 出来損ない (badly done, good for nothing), フェーリング反応 (a feint, face, facial, fader, fail, fail-safe, fair, fair catch, fair copy, fair play, fair sex, fairway, fairy, fairy tale, fairyland, fake, fare, fear, feather, feather plane, feathercut, Fehling's reaction, phase, phaser, phasing, phasor), 損じ (error, slip), 故障 (accident, break-down, out of order), 減退 (decline, ebb, loss), 断 , 誤作動 (malfunction), '丸 (black dot, black spot, bull's eye). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ふせいりつ (rejection, rupture), はずれ (end, extremity, miss, outskirts, tip, verge), はた" (bankruptcy), け"か (brawl, flower offering, nut, prefecture, price of a cocoon, quarrel), '"たい (decline, ebb, loss, one's home unit), らく い (dropping out of a class), らく"しゃ (dropout, outcast, straggler), "しょう (accident, boasting, break-down, call by name, calling out, exaggeration, lakes and marshes, old name, out of order, page, pepper), "さどう (malfunction), できそ"ない (badly done, dead loss, good for nothing, good-for-nothing, washout), ふけっか (poor results), ふあたり (unpopularity), ふりょう (badness, delinquent, inferiority, poor catch), " (body, company, flight of steps, grade, group, level, mandala, party, platform, podium, rank, rostrum, stair, step, troupe), ふかく (angle of dip, blunder, defeat, depression, indiscretion, mistake, negligence), おくれ (backwardness, defeat, delay, lag), ふせい"う (abortive, bungling, clumsy, stainless steel), ふせいせき (bad record, poor result), ふしゅび (disfavour, disgrace, fizzle), さてつ (iron sand, setback, stumbling), そ"じ (error, slip), くろぼし (black dot, black spot, bull's eye), くろまる (black dot, black spot, bull's eye, to become black, to blacken), そ" (a parent language, conflict, contradiction, discord, discrepancy, frustration, inconsistency), しっぱい (blunder, mistake), しったい (discredit, disgrace, error, fault, measure against unemployment, mismanagement), フェイリュア , がへい (collapse, fiasco, rice-cake painting, something of little value), がべい (collapse, fiasco, rice-cake painting, something of little value), ふ"うかく (disqualification, rejection). (various references) | |
Korean | 실패 (Fail, Failing). (various references) | |
Manx | rey (era), failleil (decline, fail, fall short), brishey (bankrupt, bankruptcy, break, breakage, burst, cash, cashier, change money, contravention, crash, decode, depose, disbar, dismiss, dismissal, fracture, go back, infringement, interrupt, interruption, pick, raise, repulse, ruin, small change, stump, violation, wane). (various references) | |
Norwegian | fiasko (flop), falitt, svikt. (various references) | |
Papiamen | frakaso (abortion, fiasco), fayit (bankrupt, bankruptcy), aborto (abortion, miscarriage). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ailurefay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | falha (absence, brack, break, fail, imperfection, lack, miss, muff, rift, rub, shortcoming). (various references) | |
Romanian | falie (fault, fissure, yawn), faliment (bankruptcy, insolvency), fiasco (abortion, fiasco, naught, wash out), insucces (abortion, bad job, flop, licking, Miss, plough, rebuff), cãdere (authority, becomingness, break down, collapse, cropper, debacle, destruction, downfall, drop, fall, labefaction, lapse, plump, rot, spill, Turkey), defecţiune (defection), eşec (abortion, check, defeat, discomfiture, fail, failing, fiasco, fizzle, flop, lame duck, miscarriage, naught, rebuff, repulsion, set back, wash out), avarie (average, break down, casualty, damage, fault, injury, wreck), greş, slãbire (abatement, atrophy, attenuation, decay, dilution, emasculation, enervation, fading, failing, labefaction, looseness, maceration, slendering, stringency, weakening), lipsã (absence, blemish, dearth, default, defect, deficiency, demerit, destitution, drawback, fault, gap, hardship, imperfection, lack, minus, mistake, necessity, neediness, out, paucity, penury, poverty, privation, scantiness, scarceness, shortage, shortcoming, stinginess, stringency, vice, want), nereuşitã (break down, fail, failing, lame duck, miscarriage, Miss, naught, phlizz, rottenness), panã (arrow, break down, chock, cleat, cotter, feather, Gib, injury, jaw, peg, pen, pick, pinion, plug, plume, puncture, quill, quill pen, Spike, wedge), ratat (wash out), rupturã (breach, break, breaking, cleavage, discontinuance, disruption, hole, inrush, rag, rend, rent, rift, rip, rupture, slit, tear), sfârşealã (break down, exhaustion, flaccidity, flagging, weakness, weariness), ghinionist (lame duck, luckless, unfortunate, unhappy, unlucky, unlucky man). (various references) | |
Russian | банкротство (bankruptcy, business failures, crash, insolvency, smash). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | propast (bane, calamity, downfall, perdition, precipice, ruin, ruination, smash, wrack, wreck), neuspeh (abort, boner, bust, fizzle, muff), nedostatak (blemish, defect, defiance, deficiency, demerit, failing, fault, imperfection, lack, minus, shortage, want), kvar (breakage, breakdown, bug, damage, malfunction, trouble). (various references) | |
Spanish | fracaso (abortion, breakdown, bust, defecation, departure, desperation, failing, fiasco, flop, flunk, miscarriage, Miss, trouble, Turkey, washout), fallo (adjudication, decision, fault, findings, hole, judgement, judgment, order, rule, ruling, shortcoming, trouble, verdict), falla (fault, flaw, shift, void), bancarrota quiebra (bankruptcy), avería (average, breakdown, damage, fault, trouble). (various references) | |
Swedish | fel (aberration, Amiss, blemish, corrigendum, defect, demerit, error, errors, failing, fault, flaw, foul, imperfection, inaccuracy, lapse, mistake, out, shortcoming, trouble, vice, wrong), misslyckande (abortion, bomb, bust, fiasco, frost, naught, shortcoming), fallissemang (bankruptcy, crash), bankrutt (bankrupt, bankruptcy, kaput, ruined). (various references) | |
Thai | ผู้ที่ล้มเหลว, ความล้มเหลว (catastrophe, collapse, failing, falling, flop, naught). (various references) | |
Turkish | fiyasko (bomb, bust, debacle, dud, fiasco, fizzle, flivver, frost, Turkey, washout), başarısızlık (abortion, balk, bankruptcy, baulk, bomb, bust, collapse, cropper, defeat, dud, fizzle, flivver, frost, ineffectiveness, ineffectualness, inefficacy, miscarriage, reverse, setback, throwback, unsuccess, washout), batma (burst up, decline, dip, ingrowth, set, sinking, sting, submersion), bozukluk (being broken down, chicken feed, coin, decomposition, defect, deformity, distortion, disturbance, faultiness, foulness, hilliness, irregularity, putrescence, rupture, small chance, taint, unsoundness, upset), bulunmama (absence), dinme (alleviation, ease, let up, quiet), eksiklik (dearth, defalcation, defect, defectiveness, deficiency, deficit, desideratum, failing, flimsiness, imperfection, inadequacy, incompetence, insufficiency, lack, Lacuna, lameness, negation, poverty, shortage, shortcoming, shortness, sketchiness, void), aksatma (damp), iflas (bankruptcy, bust, crash, in carey street, insolvency, ruin, smash, smash up), yokluk (absence, absentness, dearth, exiguity, famine, hardship, lack, neediness, nonappearance, non-appearance, nonexistence, non-existence, nudity, penury, poverty, privation, shortage, Strait, straits, tightness, want), ihmal (carelessness, criminal neglect, delinquency, disregard, forgetfulness, inattention, neglect, negligence, omission, remissness, shortcoming), kıtlık (dearth, drought, exiguity, famine, paucity, penury, scantiness, scantness, scarceness, scarcity, shortage, slimness, sparseness, sparsity), kusur (blame, blemish, cavil, culpability, defalcation, default, defect, deficiency, demerit, failing, fault, flaw, freckle, gaff, imperfection, inaccuracy, infirmity, remissness, scar, shortcoming, stigma, taint, vice), sekte (interruption, pause, standstill), tükenme (being exhausted, exhaustion, petering), yapmama (nonperformance, non-performance), yetmezlik (insufficiency, shortness), hayal kırıklığı (chagrin, comedown, defeat, disappointment, disillusion, disillusionment, frost, letdown, non event, nonevent, sell, take in). (various references) | |
Turkmen | sowsuzlyk. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | неуспіх, невиконання (non-completion, non-fulfillment, non-fulfilment, non-performance), недостача (absence, dearth, lack, need, non-availability, penury, poverty, scarcity, shortage, shortcoming, shortfall, shortness, want), провал (defection, fail, fiasco, frost, washout). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | việc thất bại, sự phá sản, sự không xảy ra, sự hỏng (discomfiture), cố gắng không th nh công sự thi hỏng sự vỡ nợ. (various references) | |
Welsh | methiant, meth (miss), annhyciant, anghaffael (defect, hindrance, mishap), aflwyddiant (calamity, misfortune), aflwydd (calamity, misfortune), aball (destruction, postilence). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | defectio, defectione, defectionem, defectus. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "failure": failures. (additional references) | |
| |
"Failure" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: afailure, failkure, failuer, failur, Faipule, faiture, falure, familure, Fatipur, fayllard, fayourn, Fazlur, Fuiloro, Raizure. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "failure" (pronounced fā"lyer) |
| 3 | -l y er | belier, Collier, espalier, familiar, hotelier, peculiar, unfamiliar. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-e-f-i-l-r-u" | |
-1 letter: earful, ferial, ferula, ireful. | |
-2 letters: afire, ariel, aurei, farle, feral, feria, feuar, filar, filer, flair, flare, flier, frail, lifer, rifle, uraei, ureal, urial. | |
-3 letters: alef, alif, aril, earl, fail, fair, fare, farl, feal, fear, fiar, fila, file, fire, flea, flue, frae, fuel, furl, ilea, lair, lari, leaf, lear, liar, lief, lier, lieu, life. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-e-f-i-l-r-u" | |
+1 letter: failures, faultier, filature, fraulein, weariful. | |
+2 letters: filatures, flauntier, frauleins, lifeguard, qualifier, requalify, ultrafine. | |
+3 letters: fluoridate, fluorinate, lifeguards, luciferase, painfuller, prequalify, qualifiers, quatrefoil, ultrafiche, wearifully. | |
+4 letters: beautifuler, calciferous, cauliflower, centrifugal, disgraceful, faultfinder, fluoridated, fluoridates, fluorinated, fluorinates, formularies, formularize, frugalities, irrefutable, irrefutably, lactiferous, lifeguarded, luciferases, nefariously, quatrefoils, requalified, requalifies, superfamily, superficial, ultrafiches, unclarified, unfaltering. | |
+5 letters: cauliflowers, centrifugals, disregardful, faultfinders, figuratively, fluidextract, formularized, formularizer, formularizes, furazolidone, insufferable, insufferably, interfaculty, interfluvial, lifeguarding, prequalified, prequalifies, quarterfinal, requalifying, salutiferous, transfusible, ultraleftism, ultraleftist, ultrarefined, unflattering, unforgivable, unprofitable, unverifiable, wearifulness. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Familiar | 9. Quotations: Historic 10. Quotations: Fiction 11. Quotations: Non-fiction 12. Quotations: Spoken | 13. Quotations: Speeches 14. Usage Frequency 15. Expressions 16. Expressions: Internet | 17. Translations: Modern 18. Translations: Ancient 19. Abbreviations 20. Acronyms | 21. Derivations 22. Rhymes 23. Anagrams 24. Bibliography |
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