Synonyms for failure
ˈfeɪl yərfail·ure

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. failurenoun

   State or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, opposite of success.

   Antonyms:
   triumph, success

2. failurenoun

   Synonyms:
   loser

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. failure

   Misfortune is adverse fortune or any instance thereof, any untoward event, usually of lingering character or consequences, and such as the sufferer is not deemed directly responsible for; as, he had the misfortune to be born blind. Any considerable disappointment, failure, or misfortune, as regards outward circumstances, as loss of fortune, position, and the like, when long continued or attended with enduring consequences, constitutes adversity. For the loss of friends by death we commonly use affliction or bereavement. Calamity and disaster are used of sudden and severe misfortunes, often overwhelming; ill fortune and ill luck, of lighter troubles and failures. We speak of the misery of the poor, the hardships of the soldier. Affliction, chastening, trial, and tribulation have all an especially religious bearing, suggesting some disciplinary purpose of God with beneficent design. Affliction may be keen and bitter, but brief; tribulation is long and wearing. We speak of an affliction, but rarely of a tribulation, since tribulation is viewed as a continuous process, which may endure for years or for a lifetime; but we speak of our daily trials. Compare CATASTROPHE.

   Synonyms:
   adversity, affliction, bereavement, blow, calamity, chastening, chastisement, disappointment, disaster, distress, hardship, harm, ill, ill fortune, ill luck, misadventure, mischance, misery, misfortune, mishap, reverse, ruin, sorrow, stroke, trial, tribulation, trouble, visitation

   Antonyms:
   blessing, boon, comfort, consolation, good fortune, good luck, gratification, happiness, joy, pleasure, prosperity, relief, success, triumph

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. failurenoun

   an act that fails

   "his failure to pass the test"

   Synonyms:
   bankruptcy, loser, nonstarter, unsuccessful person

   Antonyms:
   success

2. failurenoun

   an event that does not accomplish its intended purpose

   "the surprise party was a complete failure"

   Synonyms:
   bankruptcy, loser, nonstarter, unsuccessful person

   Antonyms:
   success

3. failurenoun

   lack of success

   "he felt that his entire life had been a failure"; "that year there was a crop failure"

   Synonyms:
   bankruptcy, loser, nonstarter, unsuccessful person

   Antonyms:
   success

4. failure, loser, nonstarter, unsuccessful personnoun

   a person with a record of failing; someone who loses consistently

   Synonyms:
   bankruptcy, loser, nonstarter, also-ran, unsuccessful person

   Antonyms:
   success

5. failurenoun

   an unexpected omission

   "he resented my failure to return his call"; "the mechanic's failure to check the brakes"

   Synonyms:
   bankruptcy, loser, nonstarter, unsuccessful person

   Antonyms:
   success

6. bankruptcy, failurenoun

   inability to discharge all your debts as they come due

   "the company had to declare bankruptcy"; "fraudulent loans led to the failure of many banks"

   Synonyms:
   bankruptcy, loser, nonstarter, unsuccessful person

   Antonyms:
   success

7. failurenoun

   loss of ability to function normally

   "kidney failure"

   Synonyms:
   bankruptcy, loser, nonstarter, unsuccessful person

   Antonyms:
   success

Matched Categories

1. • Disorder
   • Fortune
   • Happening
   • Insolvency
   • Nonaccomplishment
   • Omission

Editors ContributionRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. distruption

   Submitted by anonymous on February 2, 2021  

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:1.0 / 1 vote

1. failurenoun

   Synonyms:
   deficiency, defectiveness, shortcoming

2. failurenoun

   Synonyms:
   omission, neglect, FAIL, non-performance, non-observance

3. failurenoun

   Synonyms:
   miscarriage, botch, ill success, flash in the pan, labor for one's pains, losing game, wild-goose chase, sleeveless errand

4. failurenoun

   Synonyms:
   insolvency, bankruptcy, suspension of payment

5. failurenoun

   Synonyms:
   decay, decline, declension, loss

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. failurenoun

   Synonyms:
   failing, deficiency, shortcoming, lack, omission, pretermission, default, nonperformance, neglect, dereliction nonfulfillment, nonobservance, nonsuccess, miscarriage, frustration, abortion, foil, fizzle, fiasco, deterioration, decline, declension, retrogression, bankruptcy, insolvency

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "failure":

   inability, omission, fiasco, failed, incapacity, lack, breakdown, malfunction, rupture, error, fails, fault, absence, default, fail, defect, failing, collapse, defeat, non-compliance, bankruptcy, flop, judgement, breach, refusal, impossibility, setback, chess, disability, flaw, insufficiency, judgment, deficiency, breakage, breakup, inadequacy, non-performance, falla, failures

Suggested Resources

1. failure

   Song lyrics by failure -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by failure on the Lyrics.com website.

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How to use failure in a sentence?

1. Annie Dillard:

   It could be that our faithlessness is a cowering cowardice born of our very smallness, a massive failure of imagination... If we were to judge nature by common sense or likelihood, we wouldn't believe the world existed.

2. Eric Brown:

   The immediate goal is to try to persuade people … that western-style republicanism – which was supported by United States – is a failure, and that the PRC's policy of Belt and Road Initiative, and the new international order that it wants to create, is superior to what United States tried to create after 20 years in Afghanistan.

3. Norman Vincent Peale:

   Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure.

4. Lisa Madigan:

   By choosing not to thoroughly investigate allegations, the Catholic Church has failed in its moral obligation to provide survivors, parishioners and the public a complete and accurate accounting of all sexually inappropriate behavior involving priests in Illinois, the failure to investigate also means that the Catholic Church has never made an effort to determine whether the conduct of the accused priests was ignored or covered up by superiors.

5. Elias Canetti:

   The paranoiac is the exact image of the ruler. The only difference is their position in the world. One might even think the paranoiac the more impressive of the two because he is sufficient unto himself and cannot be shaken by failure.