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Dictionary Directory > Words > Dictionary fail·ure (fāl'yər) pronunciation n.

  1. The condition or fact of not achieving the desired end or ends: the failure of an experiment.
  2. One that fails: a failure at one's career.
  3. The condition or fact of being insufficient or falling short: a crop failure.
  4. A cessation of proper functioning or performance: a power failure.
  5. Nonperformance of what is requested or expected; omission: failure to report a change of address.
  6. The act or fact of failing to pass a course, test, or assignment.
  7. A decline in strength or effectiveness.
  8. The act or fact of becoming bankrupt or insolvent.

noun

  1. The condition of not achieving the desired end: unsuccess, unsuccessfulness. See thrive/fail/exist.
  2. One that fails completely: bust, fiasco, loser, washout. Informal dud, flop, lemon. Slang bomb. See thrive/fail/exist.
  3. A cessation of proper mechanical functions: breakdown, outage. See thrive/fail/exist.
  4. Nonperformance of what ought to be done: default, delinquency, dereliction, neglect, omission. Law nonfeasance. See do/not do.
  5. A marked loss of strength or effectiveness: declination, decline, deterioration. See increase/decrease.
  6. The condition of being financially insolvent: bankruptcy, bust, insolvency. See money.

Definition: lack of success Antonyms: accomplishment, achievement, attainment, earnings, gain, merit, success, win

Definition: person who does not succeed Antonyms: achiever, success

The inability to function or perform satisfactorily.

Quotes:

There are few things more dreadful than dealing with a man who knows he is going under, in his own eyes, and in the eyes of others. Nothing can help that man. What is left of that man flees from what is left of human attention. - James Baldwin

You win only if you aren't afraid to lose. - Rocky Aoki

To begin to think with purpose, is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only recognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment. - James Allen

They fail, and they alone, who have not striven. - Thomas B. Aldrich

The typical human life seems to be quite unplanned, undirected, unlived, and unsavored. Only those who consciously think about the adventure of living as a matter of making choices among options, which they have found for themselves, ever establish real self-control and live their lives fully. - Karl Albrecht

I have always felt that although someone may defeat me, and I strike out in a ball game, the pitcher on the particular day was the best player. But I know when I see him again, I'm going to be ready for his curve ball. Failure is a part of success. There is no such thing as a bed of roses all your life. But failure will never stand in the way of success if you learn from it. - Hank Aaron

For more famous quotations, visit QuotationsBook.com.

IN BRIEF: A lack of success.

pronunciation There is no failure except in no longer trying. — Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915).

Back to Top WordNet Directory > Words > WordNet Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun failure has 7 meanings:

Meaning #1: an act that fails

Meaning #2: an event that does not accomplish its intended purpose

 Antonym: success (meaning #1)

Meaning #3: lack of success

 Antonym: success (meaning #3)

Meaning #4: a person with a record of failing; someone who loses consistently

 Synonyms: loser, nonstarter, unsuccessful person

Meaning #5: an unexpected omission

Meaning #6: inability to discharge all your debts as they come due

 Synonym: bankruptcy

Meaning #7: loss of ability to function normally

Back to Top Misplaced Pages Directory > Reference > Misplaced Pages failure Wiktionary-logo-en.png Look up failure in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

   For other senses of this word, see failure (disambiguation).

Failure (or flop) in general refers to the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective. It may be viewed as the opposite of success.

Criteria for failure

The criteria for failure are heavily dependent on context of use, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. A situation considered to be a failure by one might be considered a success by another, particularly in cases of direct competition or a zero-sum game. As well, the degree of success or failure in a situation may be differently viewed by distinct observers or participants, such that a situation that one considers to be a failure, another might consider to be a success, a qualified success or a neutral situation.

It may also be difficult or impossible to ascertain whether a situation meets criteria for failure or success due to ambiguous or ill-defined definition of those criteria. Finding useful and effective criteria, or heuristics, to judge the success or failure of a situation may itself be a significant task.

Common usage

A context in which failure is frequently used is in the formal grading of scholastic achievement. 'Failing a test' or being assigned a 'failing mark' indicates that a student has submitted work or received a mark below a minimum threshold of performance or quality required to continue studies in a subject or to receive credit for completion.

Formal technical definition

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.

Types of failure

Failure can be differentially perceived from the viewpoints of the evaluators. A person who is only interested in the final outcome of an activity would consider it to be an Outcome Failure if the core issue has not been resolved or a core need is not met. A failure can also be a process failure whereby although the activity is completed successfully, a person may still feel dissatisfied if the underlying process is perceived to be below expected standard or benchmark.

Jared Diamond lists some reasons by which a society can collapse (book):

  1. failure to anticipate,
  2. failure to perceive.

Commercial failures

A commercial failure is a product that does not reach expectations of success, failing to come even close. A major flop goes one step further and is recognized for its complete lack of success.

Most of the items listed below had high expectations, significant financial investments, and/or widespread publicity, but fell far short of success. Obviously, due to the subjective nature of "success" and "meeting expectations", there can be disagreement about what constitutes a "major flop."

   * For a list of miscellaneous commercial product and service failures, see List of miscellaneous commercial failures.
   * For flops in computer and video gaming, see List of commercial failures in computer and video gaming.
   * For flops within the automotive industry, see List of automotive flops.
   * For flops concerning groceries, see List of grocery marketing flops.
   * For computer-related flops, see List of commercial failures in computer technology.
   * For aviational commercial failures, see List of commercial failures in aviation.
   * For company failures related to the 1997-2001 Dot-com bubble, see Dot-com company.
   * See also Vaporware.

Other failures

   * For military disasters, see List of military disasters.
   * For failed political campaigns, see List of political flops.
   * For events that were highly anticipated but either did not happen or turned out to be disappointing, see Non-event.
   * For flops in entertainment, see List of flops in entertainment.
   * For flops in sports, see List of sports flops.

Bibliography

Born Losers: A History of Failure in America, by Scott A. Sandage (Harvard University Press, 2005).

See also

   * Cascading failure
   * Debugging
   * Failure analysis
   * Failure rate
   * Failure mode
   * Murphy's law
   * New product development
   * Non-event
   * Power outage
   * Product
   * Product management
   * Single point of failure
   * Structural failure
   * Tensile strength
   * White elephant

External links

   * Failure magazine
   * On Entreprenurial Failure
   * Google Search

This entry is from Misplaced Pages, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

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Dansk (Danish) n. - fiasko, sammenbrud, forsømmelse, fallit, uheldigt udfald

Nederlands (Dutch) mislukking, storing, nalatigheid, het uitblijven, onvermogen om normaal te functioneren, faillissement, tekort, mislukkeling, verval

Français (French) n. - échec, (Fin) faillite, raté, panne, (Méd) défaillance, manquement à une promesse, (Jur) défaut de comparution (en justice), non-respect de la réglementation, (Agric) perte (de récolte)

Deutsch (German) n. - Bankrott, Mißerfolg, Ausfall, Verschlechterung, Scheitern, Versager

Ελληνική (Greek) n. - αποτυχία (κν. φιάσκο), αποτυχημένος, αμέλεια, παράλειψη, διακοπή, βλάβη, έλλειψη, ανεπάρκεια, (οικον.) χρεοκοπία (κν. φαλιμέντο), αδυναμία εκτέλεσης ή εκπλήρωσης

Italiano (Italian) fallimento, insuccesso, guasto, fallito

idioms:

   * failure of    fallimento di, guasto di

Português (Portuguese) n. - falha (f)

idioms:

   * failure of    falha de

Русский (Russian) провал, банкротство, невыполнение, повреждение

idioms:

   * failure of    провал

Español (Spanish) n. - quiebra, fracaso, fallo, avería, fracasado

Svenska (Swedish) n. - misslyckande

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified)) 失败, 不足, 失败者

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional)) n. - 失敗, 不足, 失敗者

한국어 (Korean) n. - 실패 , 태만, 불이행, 부족, 낙제, 지불 능력 상실

日本語 (Japanese) n. - 失敗, 落第, 失敗者, 失敗作, 不足, 怠慢, 不履行, …しないこと, 破産, 衰弱, 故障

idioms:

   * failure of    失敗

العربيه (Arabic) ‏(الاسم) إخفاق , فشل‏

עברית (Hebrew) n. - ‮כישלון, חוסר, אי-ביצוע, אי-יכולת, פשיטת רגל‬

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Back to Top Mentioned In failure is mentioned in these AnswerPages: dud performance Walker, Harold Blake (Quotes By) kakorrhaphiophobia (psychology) ovarian agenesis (medicine) turn achiever boom comeback detection More>

Copyrights: Dictionary definition of failure The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2004, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. More from Dictionary Thesaurus synonyms of failure Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. More from Thesaurus Answers Corporation Antonyms information about failure © 1999-2006 by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved. More from Antonyms Medical definition of failure The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. More from Medical Quotes About information about failure Copyright © 2005 QuotationsBook.com. All rights reserved. More from Quotes About Word Tutor information about failure Copyright © 2004-present by eSpindle Learning, a 501(c) nonprofit organization. All rights reserved. eSpindle provides personalized spelling and vocabulary tutoring online; free trial. More from Word Tutor WordNet information about failure WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. More from WordNet Misplaced Pages information about failure This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Misplaced Pages article "Failure". More from Misplaced Pages Translations for failure Copyright © 2006, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved. More from Translations

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