Home Synonyms failure

Synonyms of failure in English:

failure


See US English definition of failure

See UK English definition of failure

See Spanish definition of fracaso

noun

1‘the failure of the assassination attempt’

SYNONYMS
lack of success, non-success, non-fulfilment, abortion, miscarriage, defeat, frustration, collapse, foundering, misfiring, coming to nothing, falling through
informal fizzling out
ANTONYMS

success

2‘every one of his schemes had been a failure’

SYNONYMS
fiasco, debacle, catastrophe, disaster, blunder, vain attempt, abortion, defeat
British damp squib
informal flop, botch, hash, foul-up, screw-up, washout, let-down, dead loss, dead duck, lead balloon, lemon, fail
British informal cock-up, pig's ear
North American informal snafu, clinker
vulgar slang fuck-up
British vulgar slang balls-up
ANTONYMS

success

3‘I was regarded by everyone as a failure’

SYNONYMS
loser, born loser, incompetent, non-achiever, underachiever, ne'er-do-well, disappointment, write-off
no one, nobody
informal no-hoper, flop, dud, non-starter, washout, dead loss, lemon
ANTONYMS

success

4‘he felt guilty for what seemed like a failure in duty’

SYNONYMS
negligence, remissness, non-observance, non-performance, dereliction
omission, neglect, oversight

5‘any crop failure could affect a farming business’

SYNONYMS
inadequacy, insufficiency, deficiency, lack, dearth, scarcity, shortfall

6‘he was puzzled by the failure of the camera’

SYNONYMS
breaking down, breakdown, non-function, cutting out, seizing up
malfunction, faultiness
crash
informal conking out
British informal playing up

7‘the failure of several state-owned companies’

SYNONYMS
collapse, crash, going under, bankruptcy, insolvency, liquidation, close-down, closure, closing, shutting down, winding up, termination
decline, failing, foundering, sinking, ruin, ruination
informal folding, flop
ANTONYMS

success