# fail whale

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. An image of a whale that formerly accompanied certain error messages on the Twitter microblogging website.

## Etymology
The fail whale originated on Twitter; the term was coined by web designer Jen Simmons in 2007 in a tweet.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/fail-whale