as in weaknesses
a defect in character
we could talk about your failings, but it would take all night
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Recent Examples of failings
Unpredictable funding from Congress compounds these failings.
—
Marc Scribner, Oc Register, 8 Feb. 2026
The report claimed these changes were made to minimize the city and fire department’s failings.
—Barnini Chakraborty, The Washington Examiner, 5 Feb. 2026
Foster acknowledged state efforts to hold the district accountable have at times been justified, including in 2023 when TEA investigated chronic failings in the district’s special education department.
—Keri Heath, Austin American Statesman, 5 Feb. 2026
Upon his return, Iger moved quickly to remedy the damage caused by Chapek, learn from his failings, and establish a more robust succession plan, drawing on his experience and that of others.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 4 Feb. 2026
Sheriff Chad Bianco and the department’s media team didn't respond to requests for comment, including detailed questions about the findings reported in this story, including those in a 6-page administrative review that detailed deputies’ failings in Jamall Brown’s death.
—Christopher Damien, USA Today, 1 Feb. 2026
What the memoir mainly does is reassure you that Gavin Newsom is a person with frailties and failings.
—Maya Singer, Vogue, 1 Feb. 2026
No fan should be told how to follow their team, nor be scolded for feeling conflicted, especially as Spurs supporters have been put in this unenviable bind by the failings of their club — rather than the other way around.
—Dan Kilpatrick, New York Times, 30 Jan. 2026
This is something Director Smith said many of the failings of the First Step Act was because of the prior administrations misallocation of funding under the program.
—Walter Pavlo, Forbes.com, 28 Jan. 2026
Marc Scribner, Oc Register, 8 Feb. 2026
The report claimed these changes were made to minimize the city and fire department’s failings.
—Barnini Chakraborty, The Washington Examiner, 5 Feb. 2026
Foster acknowledged state efforts to hold the district accountable have at times been justified, including in 2023 when TEA investigated chronic failings in the district’s special education department.
—Keri Heath, Austin American Statesman, 5 Feb. 2026
Upon his return, Iger moved quickly to remedy the damage caused by Chapek, learn from his failings, and establish a more robust succession plan, drawing on his experience and that of others.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 4 Feb. 2026
Sheriff Chad Bianco and the department’s media team didn't respond to requests for comment, including detailed questions about the findings reported in this story, including those in a 6-page administrative review that detailed deputies’ failings in Jamall Brown’s death.
—Christopher Damien, USA Today, 1 Feb. 2026
What the memoir mainly does is reassure you that Gavin Newsom is a person with frailties and failings.
—Maya Singer, Vogue, 1 Feb. 2026
No fan should be told how to follow their team, nor be scolded for feeling conflicted, especially as Spurs supporters have been put in this unenviable bind by the failings of their club — rather than the other way around.
—Dan Kilpatrick, New York Times, 30 Jan. 2026
This is something Director Smith said many of the failings of the First Step Act was because of the prior administrations misallocation of funding under the program.
—Walter Pavlo, Forbes.com, 28 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for failings
Noun
-
If your goal is to get at the truth, or at least our closest approximation of it at the present time, the way to do that is to be scrupulous and forthright about the strengths and weaknesses of every link in your chain of argument.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Per-room prices for hotel purchases fell in California primarily due to weaknesses in the Bay Area market, Atlas Hospitality Group reported in its annual survey of hotel sales activity.—
George Avalos,
Mercury News,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
These mini-seismic events are not considered true earthquakes because there is no movement along faults or tectonic plate boundaries.—
Tammie Souza,
CBS News,
7 Feb. 2026
-
When the tectonic plates began to pull apart millions of years later, those ancient faults at their edges reawakened, reincarnated as transform faults.—
Evan Howell,
Scientific American,
4 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Most of the revelations in the files have not revealed journalistic sins, but have highlighted uncomfortably close relationships with New York media figures and a man who had been convicted of soliciting a minor.—
Max Tani,
semafor.com,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Yasmin, meanwhile, is still haunted by the sins of her father—a figure reminiscent of Robert Maxwell—yet seemingly doomed to enable the same kinds of offenses.—
Inkoo Kang,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Ultimately, Richardson would acknowledge the film’s shortcomings in his book.—
Alexander Nazaryan,
New Yorker,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Veterans have often been some of the harshest (and most clear-eyed) analysts of the military’s shortcomings.—
Missy Ryan,
The Atlantic,
9 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Failings.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/failings. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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