failing

C2+ Topic:Abstract Ideas

US /ˈfeɪlɪŋ/ UK /ˈfeɪlɪŋ/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a weakness or shortcoming in character or ability

Punctuality was never one of her failings.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a weakness or shortcoming... weakness shortcoming flaw fault defect frailty imperfection

Opposites

strength virtue merit forte

Word family

Related forms fail failure fallible

Etymology

From fail + -ing. Fail derives from Old French faillir ('to be lacking, fail'), from Vulgar Latin *fallire, from Latin fallere ('to deceive, disappoint').

faillir Old French fallere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Abstract Ideas Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# failing

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈfeɪlɪŋ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈfeɪlɪŋ/

## Meanings
1. a weakness or shortcoming in character or ability

## Examples
- Punctuality was never one of her failings.

## Synonyms
- weakness
- shortcoming
- flaw
- fault
- defect
- frailty
- imperfection

## Antonyms
- strength
- virtue
- merit
- forte

## Related Forms
- fail
- failure
- fallible

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: faillir
- Root: fallere

## Etymology
From fail + -ing. Fail derives from Old French faillir ('to be lacking, fail'), from Vulgar Latin *fallire, from Latin fallere ('to deceive, disappoint').

## AI Etymology
Failing comes from fail + -ing. Fail derives from Old French faillir ('to be lacking, fail'), from Vulgar Latin *fallire, from Latin fallere ('to deceive, disappoint'). Morphologically, the account is both compositional and suffixal: -ing marks the visible structure by which the older base becomes the modern form. In present use, it is used as a noun and preposition meaning "a weakness or shortcoming in character or ability", so the historical material remains connected with the current sense rather than standing as bare ancestry. The wider English family includes related forms such as fail, failure, and fallible, showing how the same historical material continues to organize neighboring vocabulary. The named historical forms include Old French faillir and Latin fallere, keeping the history tied to concrete forms rather than a loose resemblance. Its semantic neighborhood is marked by weakness, shortcoming, flaw, and fault on one side and contrasts such as strength, virtue, and merit on the other, locating the modern specialization without adding a new origin story.

## Topics
- Abstract Ideas
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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