1
general::
noun lack of success ADJ. complete, total | abject, humiliating, ignominious The attempt ended in abject failure. | inevitable | costly | alleged, apparent, perceived | evident | comparative, relative | initial Initial failure was followed by unexpected, if modest, success. | ultimate War is the ultimate failure of public communication. | personal | moral | academic | economic, financial | military VERB + FAILURE be doomed to, end in, result in All her efforts were doomed to failure. | admit, confess He was too proud to admit failure. | expect Children who are doing badly tend to expect failure and criticism. | fear | avoid FAILURE + NOUN rate There is a high failure rate with this treatment. PHRASES fear of failure Fear of failure should not deter you from trying. | a history of failure John had a long history of academic failure. | a possibility/risk of failure, a sense of failure unsuccessful person/thing ADJ. great, serious | complete, total, utter | catastrophic, disastrous | abject, conspicuous, dismal, humiliating, ignominious, lamentable, miserable | costly | heroic Her ideas were large: if she could not succeed, she would at least be a heroic failure. | alleged, apparent, perceived | evident | comparative, relative | past to learn from past failures | rare The film was one of the rare failures in his career. | unexpected | personal | collective | moral | academic | economic, financial economic failure and increasing unemployment | military VERB + FAILURE be, represent | prove The venture proved a costly failure. | feel I felt a complete failure. | consider sb/sth, regard sb/sth as | brand sb/sth, pronounce sb/sth Her parents had long since branded her a failure. FAILURE + VERB arise from sth failures arising from circumstances beyond your control PREP. ~ of The decision to withdraw funding represents a failure of imagination. not doing sth ADJ. fundamental | general | manifest | consistent, constant, continued/continuing, persistent, repeated | government, management government failure to listen to the voice of the electorate VERB + FAILURE excuse, justify seeking to excuse his failure to ask her permission of a machine/system/part of the body, etc. ADJ. battery, brake, component, computer, engine, equipment, mechanical, power, system, technical | bank, business, commercial, company, corporate, market Business failures rose by 30% in 2001. | brain, heart, kidney, liver | crop, harvest | communication VERB + FAILURE cause, lead to, result in a rare viral infection that can lead to heart failure FAILURE + VERB occur A power failure occurred between 4 and 5 p.m. PREP. ~ in a failure in the computer system
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
4
general::
failure
noun [ countable ] someone or something that is not successful:
• The book was a complete failure. • I felt a complete failure.
flop
noun [ countable ] informal something that is not successful because people do not like it – used especially about a film, play, product, or performance:
• Despite the hype, the movie was a flop at the box office. • Their next computer was a flop.
disaster
noun [ countable ] used when saying that something is extremely unsuccessful:
• Our first date was a disaster. • Their marriage was a total disaster.
fiasco
noun [ countable usually singular ] something that is completely unsuccessful and goes very badly wrong – used especially about things that have been officially planned, which go very wrong:
• The baggage system broke down on the first day the airport was open. It was a complete fiasco. • The fiasco came close to ending de Gaulle's political career.
debacle
noun [ countable usually singular ] formal an event or situation that is a complete failure, because it does not happen in the way that it was officially planned:
• the banking debacle that has put our economy at risk
shambles
noun [ singular ] especially British English if a situation or event is a shambles, it is completely unsuccessful because it has been very badly planned or organized, and no one seems to know what to do:
• The first few shows were a shambles, but things soon got better.
washout
noun [ singular ] informal a failure – used when something is so bad that it would be better if it had not happened:
• The play wasn’t a complete washout; the acting was okay. • His most recent and ambitious project, a big-budget Hollywood film, was a washout with both critics and audiences alike.
turkey
noun [ countable ] informal something that is so bad and unsuccessful that you think the people involved should be embarrassed about it – a very informal use:
• At the time most people thought the car was a complete turkey. • Since then he has appeared in a string of turkeys.
Longman-Thesaurus