How to Use failure in a Sentence

failure

noun
  • The drought caused crop failure.
  • The scheme was a complete failure.
  • He was often crippled by his fear of failure.
  • The accident was caused by a failure to use proper procedures.
  • He felt like a failure when he wasn't accepted into law school.
  • The accident was caused by engine failure.
  • The patient was suffering from heart failure.
  • She was criticized for failure to follow directions.
  • He became discouraged by his repeated failures in business.
  • This failure led to the end of the program by the early 1980s.
    — Allison Futterman, Discover Magazine, 5 Oct. 2023
  • That sounds to me a little bit of a recipe for failure.
    — Nbc Universal, NBC News, 12 Nov. 2023
  • Many hits to the DNA could lead to cell death and organ failure.
    — Monique Brouillette, Popular Mechanics, 28 Aug. 2023
  • That was the case in the zombie failure of Bed Bath & Beyond.
    — Bernard Condon, Fortune, 7 June 2024
  • The Fed was critical of its own role in the bank's failure.
    — Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 29 Apr. 2023
  • The first crisis was marked by a slew of failures among banks and thrifts in the early 1980s.
    — Russ Wiles, USA TODAY, 24 Jan. 2025
  • Their failure to capture 50% of the vote, though, forced the two into a June 27 runoff.
    — Brennon Dixson, Los Angeles Times, 17 June 2023
  • It’s filled with hard work, failures and plenty of lessons learned.
    — Medhat Zaki, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2024
  • Over the previous four years the failure rate was about 20%.
    — Paul A. Smith, Journal Sentinel, 19 Nov. 2022
  • Real failure is letting your ego drive the bus of your life right off the cliff.
    — Kate Guadagnino, New York Times, 21 Nov. 2024
  • Questioning the concepts of success and failure is one of the keys of the series.
    — John Hopewell, Variety, 6 Oct. 2023
  • He was cited for failure to yield to a stop sign and for not wearing a seat belt.
    — Antonio Planas, NBC News, 10 Nov. 2022
  • After that though, ask yourself what was the purpose of the failure?
    — Eric Roberson, Billboard, 29 June 2023
  • The success or failure of those plans will go a long way in determing if the Guardians can win the AL Central.
    — Paul Hoynes, cleveland, 14 Sep. 2022
  • God please protect him from the failures of the fatherless.
    — Elizabeth Ayoola, Essence, 8 Apr. 2024
  • Snyder’s tenure was marked by failure on the field and disgrace off of it.
    — Ben Volin, BostonGlobe.com, 13 May 2023
  • There was no video shown of the rocket — only the capsule — after the failure.
    — Marcia Dunn, Anchorage Daily News, 12 Sep. 2022
  • Their failure to do this has opened the door to Vivino and influencers who are happy to do the job for them.
    — Joseph V Micallef, Forbes, 17 Aug. 2024
  • Baker never escaped the blame for the Cubs’ failure to win in his four years in Chicago.
    — Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 6 Nov. 2022
  • Parading out amendments destined for failure is not leadership.
    — Christopher Eric Bouchat, Baltimore Sun, 26 Mar. 2025
  • The ability to pivot, to adapt quickly when something isn’t working or another thing could work even better, is often the difference between failure and enduring success.
    — Alexander Puutio, Forbes.com, 26 Mar. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'failure.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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