- failure
- noun1 lack of successADJECTIVE▪ complete, total▪ abject, humiliating▪
The attempt ended in abject failure.
▪ inevitable▪ costly▪ alleged, apparent, perceived▪ relative▪ initial▪Initial failure was followed by unexpected, if modest, success.
▪ ultimate▪War is the ultimate failure of public communication.
▪ personal▪ moral▪ academic▪ economic, financial▪ militaryVERB + FAILURE▪ be doomed to, end in, result in▪All her efforts were doomed to failure.
▪ admit, tolerate▪He was too proud to admit failure.
▪I will not tolerate failure.
▪ lament▪He lamented his failure to formulate a satisfactory theory.
▪ explain▪ attribute, blame▪He attributes the failure of the project to lack of government support.
▪I blame the failure of our relationship on my husband.
▪ expect▪Children who are doing badly tend to expect failure and criticism.
▪ fear▪ avoidFAILURE + NOUN▪ rate▪There is a high failure rate with this treatment.
PHRASES▪ fear of failure▪Fear of failure should not deter you from trying.
▪ a history of failure▪John had a long history of academic failure.
▪ a possibility of failure, a risk of failure▪ a sense of failure2 unsuccessful person/thingADJECTIVE▪ big, great, serious▪ complete, total, utter▪ catastrophic, disastrous▪ abject, conspicuous, dismal, humiliating, lamentable (esp. BrE), miserable▪ costly▪ heroic (BrE)▪If she could not succeed, she would at least be a heroic failure.
▪ alleged, apparent, perceived▪ relative▪ past▪to learn from past failures
▪ rare (esp. BrE)▪The movie was one of the rare failures in his career.
▪ unexpected▪ personal▪ collective▪ moral▪ academic▪ economic, financial▪economic failure and increasing unemployment
▪ militaryVERB + FAILURE▪ be, represent▪ prove▪The venture proved a costly failure.
▪ experience, have▪ feel (BrE), feel like (esp. AmE)▪I felt (like) a complete failure.
▪ consider sb/sth, regard sb/sth as▪ brand sb/sth (esp. BrE)▪Her parents had long since branded her a failure.
FAILURE + VERB▪ arise from sth▪failures arising from circumstances beyond your control
PREPOSITION▪ failure of▪The decision to withdraw funding represents a failure of imagination.
3 not doing sthADJECTIVE▪ fundamental▪ general▪ manifest▪ consistent, constant, continued, continuing, persistent, repeated▪ government, management▪government failure to listen to the voice of the electorate
VERB + FAILURE▪ excuse, justify▪Nothing can excuse your failure to ask my permission.
▪ constitute▪This breach constitutes a serious failure in performance.
4 of a machine, system, part of the body, etc.ADJECTIVE▪ mechanical, structural, technical▪ battery, brake, component, computer, engine, equipment, power, system▪ hardware, software (both computing)▪ bank, business, commercial, company, corporate, institutional, market▪Business failures rose by 30% in 2001.
▪ heart, kidney, liver, organ▪the commonest cause of acute liver failure
▪ cardiac, hepatic, renal, respiratory (all medical)▪patients with chronic renal failure
▪ crop, harvest▪ communication▪ intelligence, policyVERB + FAILURE▪ cause, lead to, result in▪a rare viral infection that can lead to heart failure
▪ experience, suffer▪The aircraft seems to have experienced an engine failure.
▪ preventFAILURE + VERB▪ occur▪A power failure occurred between 4 and 5 p.m.
PREPOSITION▪ failure in▪a failure in the computer system
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
