Searching for synonyms for fail? Here’s some similar words from our thesaurus you can use instead.

• “leave something undone“
• “She failed to notice that her child was no longer in his crib“
• “The secretary failed to call the customer and the company lost the account“

Synonyms

• neglect leave undone or leave out; fail to do something; fail to attend to; give little or no attention to; lack of attention and due care ; the state of something that has been unused and neglected; willful lack of care and attention ; the trait of neglecting responsibilities and lacking concern ; failure to act with the prudence that a reasonable person would exercise under the same circumstances

• “Where do today’s public schools fail?“
• “The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably“

Synonyms

• go wrong be unsuccessful
• miscarry be unsuccessful; suffer a miscarriage

• “abandon, forsake“
• “His sense of smell failed him this time“
• “His strength finally failed him“
• “His children failed him in the crisis“

Synonyms

• betray reveal unintentionally; deliver to an enemy by treachery; disappoint, prove undependable to; be sexually unfaithful to one’s partner in marriage; give away information about somebody; cause someone to believe an untruth

• “The engine finally went“
• “The car died on the road“
• “The bus we travelled in broke down on the way to town“
• “The coffee maker broke“
• “The engine failed on the way to town“
• “her eyesight went after the accident“

Synonyms

• go bad stop operating or functioning; become unfit for consumption or use
• give way move in order to make room for someone for something; break down, literally or metaphorically; end resistance, as under pressure or force; stop operating or functioning
• die a small cube with 1 to 6 spots on the six faces; a device used for shaping metal ; a cutting tool that is fitted into a diestock and used for cutting male (external) screw threads on screws or bolts or pipes or rods ; pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life; suffer or face the pain of death; be brought to or as if to the point of death by an intense emotion such as embarrassment, amusement, or shame; stop operating or functioning; feel indifferent towards; languish as with love or desire; cut or shape with a die; to be on base at the end of an inning, of a player ; lose sparkle or bouquet; disappear or come to an end; suffer spiritual death
• give out give off, send forth, or discharge; give to several people; prove insufficient; stop operating or functioning
• conk out stop operating or functioning; use up all one’s strength and energy and stop working
• go functioning correctly and ready for action; a time period for working (after which you will be relieved by someone else); street names for methylenedioxymethamphetamine ; a usually brief attempt; a board game for two players who place counters on a grid; change location; follow a procedure or take a course; move away from a place into another direction; enter or assume a certain state or condition; be awarded; have a particular form; stretch out over a distance, space, time, or scope; follow a certain course; be abolished or discarded; be or continue to be in a certain condition; make a certain noise or sound; perform as expected when applied; to be spent or finished; progress by being changed; continue to live and avoid dying; pass, fare, or elapse; pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life; be in the right place or situation; be ranked or compare; begin or set in motion; have a turn; be contained in; be sounded, played, or expressed; blend or harmonize; lead, extend, or afford access; be the right size or shape; go through in search of something; be spent; give support (to) or make a choice (of) one out of a group or number; stop operating or functioning
• break some abrupt occurrence that interrupts an ongoing activity; an unexpected piece of good luck; (geology) a crack in the earth’s crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other; a personal or social separation (as between opposing factions); a pause from doing something (as work); the act of breaking something; a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something ; breaking of hard tissue such as bone; the occurrence of breaking; an abrupt change in the tone or register of the voice (as at puberty or due to emotion); the opening shot that scatters the balls in billiards or pool ; (tennis) a score consisting of winning a game when your opponent was serving; an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity; a sudden dash; any frame in which a bowler fails to make a strike or spare; an escape from jail; terminate; become separated into pieces or fragments; render inoperable or ineffective; ruin completely; destroy the integrity of; act in disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or promises; move away or escape suddenly; scatter or part; force out or release suddenly and often violently something pent up; prevent completion; enter someone’s (virtual or real) property in an unauthorized manner, usually with the intent to steal or commit a violent act; make submissive, obedient, or useful; fail to agree with; surpass in excellence; make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret; come into being; stop operating or functioning; interrupt a continued activity; make a rupture in the ranks of the enemy or one’s own by quitting or fleeing; curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves; lessen in force or effect; be broken in; come to an end; vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity; cause to give up a habit; give up; come forth or begin from a state of latency; happen or take place; cause the failure or ruin of; invalidate by judicial action; discontinue an association or relation; assign to a lower position; reduce to bankruptcy; change directions suddenly ; emerge from the surface of a body of water; break down, literally or metaphorically; do a break dance; exchange for smaller units of money; destroy the completeness of a set of related items; make the opening shot that scatters the balls ; separate from a clinch, in boxing; go to pieces; break a piece from a whole; become punctured or penetrated; pierce or penetrate; be released or become known; cease an action temporarily; interrupt the flow of current in; undergo breaking; find a flaw in; find the solution or key to; change suddenly from one tone quality or register to another; happen; become fractured; crack; fall sharply; fracture a bone of; diminish or discontinue abruptly; weaken or destroy in spirit or body
• break down make ineffective; make a mathematical, chemical, or grammatical analysis of; lose control of one’s emotions; stop operating or functioning; fall apart; cause to fall or collapse ; separate (substances) into constituent elements or parts ; collapse due to fatigue, an illness, or a sudden attack

• “I fail to understand your motives“

• “The teacher failed six students“

• “She studied hard but failed nevertheless“
• “Did I fail the test?“

Synonyms

• flunk fail to get a passing grade; failure to reach a minimum required performance
• bomb throw bombs at or attack with bombs; fail to get a passing grade; an explosive device fused to explode under specific conditions ; strong sealed vessel for measuring heat of combustion ; an event that fails badly or is totally ineffectual
• flush it fail to get a passing grade

• “She failed in her obligations as a good daughter-in-law“
• “We must not fail his obligation to the victims of the Holocaust“

• “fail financially and close“
• “The toy company went bankrupt after the competition hired cheap Mexican labor“
• “A number of banks failed that year“

• “The water supply for the town failed after a long drought“

Synonyms

• run out become used up; flow off gradually; leave suddenly and as if in a hurry; lose validity; flow, run or fall out and become lost; exhaust the supply of; prove insufficient; use up all one’s strength and energy and stop working
• give out give off, send forth, or discharge; give to several people; prove insufficient; stop operating or functioning

• “Her health is declining“