failure
Roget category 732
5. Words relating to the voluntary powers› 5.5. Results of voluntary action
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#732.
Failure
noun
failure — nonsuccess†, nonfulfillment — dead failure, successlessness† — abortion, miscarriage — brutum fulmen etc. 158 [Lat.] — labor in vain etc. (inutility) 645 — no go — inefficacy† — inefficaciousness etc. adj. — vain attempt, ineffectual attempt, abortive attempt, abortive efforts — flash in the pan, lame and impotent conclusion" [Othello]; frustration — slip 'twixt cup and lip etc. (disappointment) 509.blunder etc. (mistake) 495 — fault, omission, miss, oversight, slip, trip, stumble, claudication†, footfall — false step, wrong step — faux pas [Fr.], titubation†, b_evue [Fr.], faute [Fr.], lurch — botchery etc. (want of skill) 699† — scrape, mess, fiasco, breakdown — flunk [U.S.].
mishap etc. (misfortune) 735 — split, collapse, smash, blow, explosion.
repulse, rebuff, defeat, rout, overthrow, discomfiture — beating, drubbing — quietus, nonsuit†, subjugation — checkmate, stalemate, fool's mate.
fall, downfall, ruin, perdition — wreck etc. (destruction) 162 — deathblow — bankruptcy etc. (nonpayment) 808.
losing game, affaire flamb_ee.
victim — bankrupt — flunker†, flunky [U.S.].
verb
fail — be unsuccessful etc. adj. — not succeed etc. 731 — make vain efforts etc. n. — do in vain, labor in vain, toil in vain — flunk [U.S.] — lose one's labor, take nothing by one's motion — bring to naught, make nothing of — wash a blackamoor white etc. (impossible) 471 — roll the stones of Sisyphus etc. (useless) 645 — do by halves etc. (not complete) 730 — lose ground etc. (recede) 282 — fall short of etc. 304.miss, miss one's aim, miss the mark, miss one's footing, miss stays — slip, trip, stumble — make a slip etc. n.. blunder etc. 495, make a mess of, make a botch of — bitch it†, miscarry, abort, go up like a rocket and come down like the stick, come down in flames, get shot down, reckon without one's host — get the wrong pig by the tail, get the wrong sow by the ear etc. (blunder), )mismanage) 699.
limp, halt, hobble, titubate† — fall, tumble — lose one's balance — fall to the ground, fall between two stools — flounder, falter, stick in the mud, run aground, split upon a rock — beat one's head against a stone wall, run one's head against a stone wall, knock one's head against a stone wall, dash one's head against a stone wall — break one's back — break down, sink, drown, founder, have the ground cut from under one — get into trouble, get into a mess, get into a scrape — come to grief etc. (adversity) 735 — go to the wall, go to the dogs, go to pot — lick the dust, bite the dust — be defeated etc. 731 — have the worst of it, lose the day, come off second best, lose — fall a prey to — succumb etc. (submit) 725 — not have a leg to stand on.
come to nothing, end in smoke — flat out† — fall to the ground, fall through, fall dead, fall stillborn, fall flat — slip through one's fingers — hang fire, miss fire — flash in the pan, collapse — topple down etc. (descent) 305 — go to wrack and ruin etc. (destruction) 162.
go amiss, go wrong, go cross, go hard with, go on a wrong tack — go on ill, come off ill, turn out ill, work ill — take a wrong term, take an ugly term — take an ugly turn, take a turn for the worse.
be all over with, be all up with — explode — dash one's hopes etc. (disappoint) 509 — defeat the purpose — sow the wind and reap the whirlwind, jump out of the frying pan into the fire, go from the frying pan into the fire.
adjective
unsuccessful, successless† — failing, tripping etc. v. — at fault — unfortunate etc. 735.abortive, addle, stillborn — fruitless, bootless — ineffectual, ineffective, inconsequential, trifling, nugatory — inefficient etc. (impotent) 158 — insufficient etc. 640 — unavailing etc. (useless) 645 — of no effect.
aground, grounded, swamped, stranded, cast away, wrecked, foundered, capsized, shipwrecked, nonsuited† — foiled — defeated etc. 731 — struck down, borne down, broken down — downtrodden — overborne, overwhelmed — all up with — ploughed, plowed, plucked.
lost, undone, ruined, broken — bankrupt etc. (not paying) 808 — played out — done up, done for — dead beat, ruined root and branch, flambe†, knocked on the head — destroyed etc. 162.
frustrated, crossed, unhinged, disconcerted dashed — thrown off one's balance, thrown on one's back, thrown on one's beam ends† — unhorsed, in a sorry plight — hard hit.
stultified, befooled†, dished, hoist on one's own petard — victimized, sacrificed.
wide of the mark etc. (error) 495 — out of one's reckoning etc. (inexpectation) 508† — left in the lurch — thrown away etc. (wasted) 638 — unattained — uncompleted etc. 730.
adverb
unsuccessfully etc. adj. — to little or no purpose, in vain, re infecta [Lat.].phrase
the bubble has burst, the jig is up," the game is up" [Cymbeline]; all is lost — the devil to pay — parturiunt montes etc. (disappointment) 509 [Lat.] — dies infaustus [Lat.] — tout est perdu hors l'honneur [Fr.].The content on this page comes straight from Project Gutenberg Etext of Roget's Thesaurus No. Two, which consists of the acclaimed work by Peter Mark Roget augmented with more recent material. Some changes were made to the formatting for improved readability.
Bold numbers signify related Roget categories. A dagger symbol (†) indicates archaic words and expressions no longer in common use.
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