- [uncountable, countable] lack of success in doing or achieving something
- The success or failure of the plan depends on you.
- She is still coming to terms with the failure of her marriage.
- The attempt was doomed to failure.
- All my efforts ended in failure.
- the problems of economic failure and increasing unemployment
- Their bid to win the contract resulted in abject failure.
- The decision to withdraw funding represents a failure of imagination.
- the intelligence failures that preceded the terrorist attacks
Extra ExamplesTopics Difficulty and failureb2- All her efforts were doomed to failure.
- Children who are doing badly tend to expect failure and criticism.
- Fear of failure should not deter you from trying.
- He attributes the failure of the project to lack of government support.
- He was too proud to admit failure.
- She wanted someone to blame for the failure of their relationship.
- I will not tolerate failure.
- Initial failure was followed by unexpected, if modest, success.
- John had a long history of academic failure.
- There is a high failure rate with this treatment.
- War is the ultimate failure of public communication.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- complete
- total
- abject
- …
- be doomed to
- end in
- result in
- …
- rate
- fear of failure
- a history of failure
- a possibility of failure
- …
Definitions on the go
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- [countable] a person or thing that is not successful
- The whole thing was a complete failure.
- A team learns from experience, both successes and failures.
- failure as something He was a failure as a teacher.
Extra ExamplesTopics Difficulty and failureb2- Her ideas were large: if she could not succeed, she would at least be a heroic failure.
- I felt (like) a complete failure.
- The film was one of the rare failures in his career.
- The venture proved a costly failure.
- This breach constitutes a serious failure in performance.
- failures arising from circumstances beyond your control
- to learn from past failures
- The project was considered a failure in both technical and economic terms.
- The rebellion was a dismal failure.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- big
- great
- serious
- …
- be
- represent
- prove
- …
- arise from something
- failure of
- [uncountable, countable] an act of not doing something, especially something that you are expected to do
- failure to do something Failure to comply with the regulations will result in prosecution.
- the city's failure to provide an efficient public transport system
- the government's failure to carry out reforms in the energy sector
- His confession followed repeated failures to appear in court.
- failure of somebody/something to do something the failure of the United Nations to maintain food supplies
- failure by somebody/something to do something a report on the failure by the police to protect her
Extra Examples- Nothing can excuse your failure to ask my permission.
- He lamented his failure to formulate a satisfactory theory.
- government failure to listen to the voice of the electorate
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- fundamental
- general
- manifest
- …
- excuse
- justify
- constitute
- …
- [uncountable, countable] the state of not working correctly or as expected; an occasion when this happens
- patients suffering from heart/kidney/liver failure
- renal/respiratory failure
- Production has been hampered by mechanical failure.
- A power failure plunged everything into darkness.
- The cause of the crash was given as engine failure.
- Poor maintenance caused the failure of two electricity generators.
Extra Examples- patients with chronic renal failure
- the commonest cause of acute liver failure
- The aircraft seems to have experienced an engine failure.
- a failure in the computer system
- a rare viral infection that can lead to heart failure
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- mechanical
- structural
- technical
- …
- cause
- lead to
- result in
- …
- occur
- failure in
- [countable, uncountable] a situation in which a business has to close because it is not successful
- There has been an alarming increase in business failures.
- Are we going to see more closures or failures in the ISP business?
- Business failures rose by 30% in 2023.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- mechanical
- structural
- technical
- …
- cause
- lead to
- result in
- …
- occur
- failure in
- [uncountable, countable] crop/harvest failure a situation in which crops do not grow correctly and do not produce food
- Bad weather has resulted in crop failure.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- mechanical
- structural
- technical
- …
- cause
- lead to
- result in
- …
- occur
- failure in
not successful
not doing something
of machine/part of body
of business
of crop/harvest
Word Originmid 17th cent. (originally as failer, in the senses ‘non-occurrence’ and ‘stopping of supply’): from Anglo-Norman French failer for Old French faillir, based on Latin fallere ‘deceive’.
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failure