failing
/ˈfeɪ.lɪŋ/noun, preposition, verb
failing is spelled F-A-I-L-I-N-G: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 20 times per million words in written English, the 4,302nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, failing means “weakness; defect” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of failing is failings.
How many letters and syllables are in failing?
| Letters | 7: F-A-I-L-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 20 times per million words; the 4,302nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is failing?
Failing appears 20 times per million words in written English, the 4,302nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce failing?
- US /ˈfeɪ.lɪŋ/
Failing has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Persent101-failing.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-failing.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-failing.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with failing?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as failing from its last stressed vowel (/eɪlɪŋ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of failing
- failings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does failing mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
weakness; defect
His worst failing is his temper.
preposition
- 1
If what follows is not possible; without.
A large proportion of the females employed in other firms are said to have signified their intention of going on strike, failing a settlement.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of fail
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Failing in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Schwäche, Mangel, Fehler, Unzulänglichkeit, Defizit , mangels |
| Spanish | falta, defecto, lacra , a falta de |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.