What does "fail" mean?
A failure, especially of a financial transaction (a termination of an action).
Fail
/feɪl/ adj, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A failure, especially of a financial transaction (a termination of an action).
- Grammar: fail is listed as adj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: abandon, abort, age, aww.
- Useful contrasts: awesome sauce, contrived, diagnostic pass.
- Usage evidence: You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try.
How to use "fail"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "fail" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "fail" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "fail" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "fail" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "fail" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "abandon" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "fail", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A failure, especially of a financial transaction (a termination of an action). countable, uncountable
- 2 A piece of turf cut from grassland.
- 3 A failing grade in an academic examination. countable, uncountable
- 4 A failure (something incapable of success). US, countable, slang, uncountable
- 5 Poor quality; substandard workmanship. slang, uncountable
"The project was full of fail."
Verb
- 1 To be unsuccessful. intransitive
"Throughout my life, I have always failed."
- 2 deteriorate wordnet
- 3 Not to achieve a particular stated goal. (Usage note: The direct object of this word is usually an infinitive.) transitive
"The truck failed to start."
- 4 stop operating or functioning wordnet
- 5 To neglect. transitive
"The report fails to take into account all the mitigating factors."
Show 21 more definitions
- 6 prove insufficient wordnet
- 7 Of a machine, etc.: to cease to operate correctly. intransitive
"After running five minutes, the engine failed."
- 8 disappoint, prove undependable to; abandon, forsake wordnet
- 9 To be wanting to, to be insufficient for, to disappoint, to desert; to disappoint one's expectations. transitive
"I've failed my parents many times growing up."
- 10 become bankrupt or insolvent; fail financially and close wordnet
- 11 To receive one or more non-passing grades in academic pursuits. ambitransitive
"I failed English last year."
- 12 fall short in what is expected wordnet
- 13 To give a student a non-passing grade in an academic endeavour. transitive
"The professor failed me because I did not complete any of the course assignments."
- 14 fail to get a passing grade wordnet
- 15 To miss attaining; to lose. obsolete, transitive
"though that seat of earthly bliss be failed"
- 16 judge unacceptable wordnet
- 17 To be wanting; to fall short; to be or become deficient in any measure or degree up to total absence.
"The crops failed last year."
- 18 be unsuccessful wordnet
- 19 To be affected with want; to come short; to lack; to be deficient or unprovided; used with of. archaic
"If ever they fail of beauty, this failure is not to be attributed to their size."
- 20 fail to do something; leave something undone wordnet
- 21 To fall away; to become diminished; to decline; to decay; to sink. archaic
"When earnestly they seek / Such proof, conclude they then begin to fail."
- 22 be unable wordnet
- 23 To deteriorate in respect to vigour, activity, resources, etc.; to become weaker. archaic
"A sick man fails."
- 24 To perish; to die; used of a person. obsolete
"had the king in his last sickness failed"
- 25 To err in judgment; to be mistaken. obsolete
"Which ofttimes may succeed, so as perhaps / Shall grieve him, if I fail not."
- 26 To become unable to meet one's engagements; especially, to be unable to pay one's debts or discharge one's business obligation; to become bankrupt or insolvent.
Adjective
- 1 Unsuccessful; inadequate; unacceptable in some way. US, slang
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Antonyms
Example
"You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "fail"?
Common synonyms include: abandon, abort, age, aww, back, bank collapse.
How do you use "fail" in a sentence?
You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try.
How do you pronounce "fail"?
Pronounced /feɪl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Inherited from Middle English failen, borrowed from Old French falir, from Vulgar Latin *fallire, alteration of Latin fallere (“to deceive, disappoint”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰāl- (“to lie, deceive”) or Proto-Indo-European *(s)gʷʰh₂el- (“to stumble”). Compare Alemannic German fääle (“to lack”), Cimbrian béelan, véelan (“to fail”), veln (“to be absent, missing”), Dutch falen, feilen (“to fail, miss”), German fallieren, fehlen (“to fail, miss, lack”), Danish fejle (“to fail, err”), Swedish fallera (“to fail, break, malfunction”), Spanish fallar (“to fail, miss”).
Etymology 2
Unknown. Compare Scottish Gaelic fàl (“hedge”), Scots faill (“turf”). Attested from the 16th century.
Etymology 3
* As a Scottish and Irish surname, shortened from McPhail. * As a Manx surname, variant of Fayle. * As a south German surname, from the adjective feil (“for sale”).