How do you use the word "fail" in a sentence?

Q: How do you use the word "fail" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "fail": I don't want to fail my exams. You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try.

Fail Meaning

/feɪl/

Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

verbTo be unsuccessful.

verbNot to achieve a particular stated goal. (Usage note: The direct object of this word is usually an infinitive.)

Sentence Examples

I don't want to fail my exams.

You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try.

Many diets fail because they are boring.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

neglect betray

Antonyms:

succeed

CEFR Practice Quiz

If you do not study hard, you might ____ the final exam.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

If you do not study hard for the final exam, you may ____ the course and have to retake it.

Word Origin & History

Etymology tree Classical Latin fallere Vulgar Latin *fallīre Old French falirbor. Middle English failen English fail 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”).

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"If they ſhoulde gyue battayle it was to be doubted, leaſt through treaſon amõgſt themſelues, the armie ſhould be betrayed into the enimies hands, the which would not fayle to execute all kinde of crueltie in the ſlaughter of the whole nation." — 1577, Raphaell Holinshed, “The Historie of Englande”, in The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume I, London: […] [Henry Bynneman] for Iohn Harrison, →OCLC, page 249, column 1:

"As the world’s drug habit shows, governments are failing in their quest to monitor every London window-box and Andean hillside for banned plants. But even that Sisyphean task looks easy next to the fight against synthetic drugs. No sooner has a drug been blacklisted than chemists adjust their recipe and start churning out a subtly different one." — 2013 August 10, “A new prescription”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:

"Those who have advocated the closure of the G.C. have so far failed to say by which alternative route this North-to-West traffic could be carried." — 1960 December, B. Perren, “The role of the Great Central—present and future”, in Trains Illustrated, page 765:

"We also found that the only emergency egress from the tram was by smashing the front or rear windscreens, and that emergency lighting had failed when the tram overturned." — 2021 December 29, Dominique Louis, “Causal analysis: crashworthiness at Sandilands”, in RAIL, number 947, page 33:

"There shall not fail thee a man on the throne." — 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Kings 2:4:

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