failing
Americannoun
-
an act or instance of failing; failure.
His failing is due to general incompetence.
-
a defect or fault; shortcoming; weakness.
His lack of knowledge is a grave failing.
preposition
noun
preposition
Related Words
See fault.
Other Word Forms
- failingly adverb
- failingness noun
Etymology
Origin of failing
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English; see origin at fail, -ing 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Alzheimer’s is the progressive failure and loss of synapses and nerve cells, which patients experience as failing memory, failing thinking and lost independence,” Vissel tells MarketWatch.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 18, 2026
With reservoir levels so low and the negotiations failing, Gold said, “there was really no choice but for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to step in and take a bold action.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026
The task isn’t to help defenders run faster inside a failing paradigm, but to change the conditions of engagement so hostile activity encounters immediate resistance.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
Hers is a story of a society failing to meet basic responsibilities to its citizens.
From Salon • Apr. 17, 2026
By making careful measurements of how much radiation came off objects at various temperatures, they showed that the Rayleigh-Jeans formula was, indeed, failing to predict the true amount of light that comes from objects.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
