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   fail

   /feɪl/

   verb

   • 1. be unsuccessful in achieving one's goal: "he failed in his attempt to secure election"
   • ▪ be unsuccessful in (an examination or interview): "she failed her finals" Similar be unsuccessful innot passbe found wantingbe found deficientnot make the gradenot pass musternot come up to scratchbe rejectedinformal:flunkOpposite pass
   • ▪ (of a person or a commodity) be unable to meet the standards set by (a test of quality or eligibility): "a player has failed a drugs test"
   • ▪ judge (a candidate in an examination or test) not to have passed: "the criteria used to pass or fail the candidate"
   • 2. neglect to do something: "the firm failed to give adequate risk warnings"
   • ▪ behave in a way contrary to expectations by not doing something: "commuter chaos has again failed to materialize"
   • ▪ used to express a strong belief that something must be the case: "she cannot have failed to be aware of the situation"
   • ▪ used to indicate that something invariably happens: "such comments never failed to annoy him"
   • ▪ desert or let down (someone): "at the last moment her nerve failed her" Similar let downdisappointbreak one's promise todash someone's hopesfall short of someone's expectationsneglectdesertabandonbetraybe disloyal tobe unfaithful tobreak faith withplay someone falseinformal:do the dirty onbail onarchaic:forsakeOpposite support
   • 3. cease to work properly; break down: "a lorry whose brakes had failed" Similar break downbreakstop workingcease to functioncut outstopstallcrashgive outmalfunctionact upgo wrongdevelop a faultbe faultybe defectiveinformal:conk outgo kaputgo phutgive up the ghostgo on the blinkbe on the blinkpack upplay upOpposite workbe in working order
   • ▪ become weaker or of poorer quality: "the light began to fail" Similar fadegrow lessgrow dimdimdie awaydwindlewanedisappearvanishpeter outdissolvedeterioratedegeneratedeclinego into declinefadediminishdwindlewaneebbsinkcollapsedecayOpposite improve
   • ▪ (of rain or a crop or supply) be insufficient when needed or expected: "the drought means crops have failed" Similar be deficientbe wantingbe lackingfall shortbe insufficientbe inadequatenot come to ripenesswitherOpposite thrive
   • ▪ (of a business or a person) cease trading because of lack of funds: "he lost his savings when the store failed" Similar be unsuccessfulnot succeedlack successfall throughfall flatbreak downabortmiscarrybe defeatedsuffer defeatbe in vainbe frustratedcollapsefoundermisfirebackfirenot come up to scratchmeet with disastercome to griefcome to nothingcome to naughtmiss the markrun agroundgo astrayinformal:flopfizzle outflatlinecome a cropperbite the dustbombblow up in someone's facego down like a lead ballooncollapsecrashgo undergo bankruptbecome insolventgo into receivershipbe in the hands of the receiversgo into liquidationcease tradingcease productionbe closedbe shut downclose downbe wound upinformal:foldflopgo bustgo brokego bumpgo to the wallgo belly upOpposite succeedthrive

   noun

   • 1. a mark which is not high enough to pass an examination or test: "a fail grade"
   • 2. a mistake, failure, or instance of poor performance: informal "their customer service is a massive fail"

   Word Origin Middle English: from Old French faillir (verb), faille (noun), based on Latin fallere ‘deceive’.

   Scrabble Points: 7

   • F

     4

   • A

     1

   • I

     1

   • L

     1

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