# fail

> English word · Verb · IPA /feɪl/ · frequency rank #2,441

## Definitions
1. To be unsuccessful.
2. Not to achieve a particular stated goal. (Usage note: The direct object of this word is usually an infinitive.)
3. To neglect.
4. Of a machine, etc.: to cease to operate correctly.
5. To be wanting to, to be insufficient for, to disappoint, to desert; to disappoint one's expectations.
6. To receive one or more non-passing grades in academic pursuits.
7. To give a student a non-passing grade in an academic endeavour.
8. To miss attaining; to lose.
9. To be wanting; to fall short; to be or become deficient in any measure or degree up to total absence.
10. To be affected with want; to come short; to lack; to be deficient or unprovided; used with of.
11. To fall away; to become diminished; to decline; to decay; to sink.
12. To deteriorate in respect to vigour, activity, resources, etc.; to become weaker.
13. To perish; to die; used of a person.
14. To err in judgment; to be mistaken.
15. To become unable to meet one's engagements; especially, to be unable to pay one's debts or discharge one's business obligation; to become bankrupt or insolvent.

## Etymology
Inherited from Middle English failen, borrowed from Old French falir, from Vulgar Latin *fallire, alteration of Latin fallere (“to deceive, disappoint”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰāl- (“to lie, deceive”) or Proto-Indo-European *(s)gʷʰh₂el- (“to stumble”).
Compare Alemannic German fääle (“to lack”), Cimbrian béelan, véelan (“to fail”), veln (“to be absent, missing”), Dutch falen, feilen (“to fail, miss”), German fallieren, fehlen (“to fail, miss, lack”), Danish fejle (“to fail, err”), Swedish fallera (“to fail, break, malfunction”), Spanish fallar (“to fail, miss”).

## Easily confused with
- **fi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fail-vs-fi)
- **FL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fail-vs-fl)
- **far** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fail-vs-far)
- **fit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fail-vs-fit)
- **fan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fail-vs-fan)
- **fat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fail-vs-fat)
- **fix** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fail-vs-fix)
- **FBI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fail-vs-fbi)
- **fig** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fail-vs-fig)
- **fin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fail-vs-fin)
- **fax** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fail-vs-fax)
- **fam** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fail-vs-fam)
- **FYI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fail-vs-fyi)
- **fir** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fail-vs-fir)
- **fil** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fail-vs-fil)
- **fay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fail-vs-fay)
- **FAQ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fail-vs-faq)
- **FEI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fail-vs-fei)
- **fas** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fail-vs-fas)
- **fic** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fail-vs-fic)

## Common misspellings (5)
`afil`, `faill`, `fali`, `ffail`, `fial`

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