FAILURES Synonyms: 101 Similar and Opposite Words

failures

noun

plural of failure

as in defeats

a falling short of one's goals the failure of the school's fund-raising drive was a big disappointment to all

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in disasters

something that has failed the students' first attempt to build a homemade rocket was a disappointing failure

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in shortages

a falling short of an essential or desirable amount or number the failure of the potato crop had a devastating effect on the population of Ireland

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in bankruptcies

the inability to pay one's debts years of prolonged economic depression, when business failures were common

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

solvencies

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of failures Researchers examine how teams analyze data, communicate, and make decisions during unexpected technical failures or emergency alarms. —

Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 17 June 2026 Across the country, bitter winter cold snaps accelerate battery failures overnight. —

Karen Koehler, Charlotte Observer, 17 June 2026 As the Air Force pauses flight test operations at the base, the investigation is expected to focus heavily on the aircraft's takeoff, looking for potential engine failures or controllability issues. —

Alexandra Koch, FOXNews.com, 17 June 2026 Who’s to blame for Nanjiani’s failures as a contestant? —

Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 17 June 2026 After years of abject failures, underachievement or agonising near-misses, Tuchel was hired to end England’s wait for a major international men’s trophy, which now extends to 60 years. —

Jack Pitt-Brooke, New York Times, 16 June 2026 What begins as a story about systemic failures — the difficulty of childcare, the shortcomings of the foster system — contracts into an account of one woman’s trauma response. —

Natalia Winkelman, Variety, 16 June 2026 Well into middle age by then, the former preschoolers’ lives were established, their successes and failures reasonably certain. —

Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 16 June 2026 Beyond harsher criticism, sports media frames Black athletes differently — often naming them as villains, failures, antagonists or questioning their leadership when necessary. —

Brielle Miller, Baltimore Sun, 16 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for failures

Noun

France ended the Seleção’s campaign in the 2006 quarterfinals, the Netherlands did so in 2010, Germany inflicted one of the most infamous defeats in the sport’s history in 2014 – a 7-1 drubbing that had fans crying in the stands – and quarterfinal exits followed again in 2018 and 2022.

— Emile Nuh, CNN Money, 13 June 2026
Beginning at Italia ’90, when Team USA was unceremoniously dumped out of its first World Cup with three consecutive defeats, this slice of stars-and-stripes nostalgia then charts the buildup to its first time as host.

— Jon O'Brien, Vulture, 10 June 2026