Everyone faces failure at some point in their lives, and there are many ways to talk about it! Idioms are special phrases that don’t mean what the words say directly but have a hidden meaning. This post shares some common English idioms that talk about failure in a fun and easy way.
Failure Idioms
Here are 20 failure idioms in English.
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Bite the dust
Meaning: To fail or fall down
Example: He tried, but his plan bit the dust. -
Fall flat
Meaning: To fail to have the intended effect
Example: His jokes fell flat at the party. -
Go down the drain
Meaning: To be wasted or lost
Example: All his efforts went down the drain. -
Hit rock bottom
Meaning: Reach the lowest possible point
Example: After losing his job, he hit rock bottom. -
Miss the boat
Meaning: To lose an opportunity
Example: She missed the boat on that deal. -
Go belly up
Meaning: To go bankrupt or fail
Example: The company went belly up quickly. -
Lay an egg
Meaning: To fail horribly, especially in performance
Example: The play laid an egg on opening night. -
Not cut the mustard
Meaning: To not reach the required standard
Example: His final presentation didn’t cut the mustard. -
Fall on deaf ears
Meaning: To be ignored or not considered
Example: His warnings fell on deaf ears. -
Lose steam
Meaning: To run out of energy or enthusiasm
Example: The campaign started well but lost steam. -
Draw a blank
Meaning: To fail to recall or fail to achieve
Example: I drew a blank at the quiz contest. -
Go up in smoke
Meaning: To end fruitlessly
Example: His plans for the trip went up in smoke. -
Back to square one
Meaning: To start over after a failure
Example: It’s back to square one for the project. -
At the end of one’s rope
Meaning: Running out of patience or ability to cope
Example: She was at the end of her rope with the delays. -
Throw in the towel
Meaning: To give up
Example: He threw in the towel after three attempts. -
Come to naught
Meaning: To end with no result
Example: All his schemes came to naught. -
Dead in the water
Meaning: Completely nonfunctional or unsuccessful
Example: The negotiation was dead in the water. -
Not hold water
Meaning: To not seem logical or be sound
Example: His excuse did not hold water. -
Burn bridges
Meaning: Destroy one’s path, often intentionally
Example: He burned bridges with his harsh words. -
Fall short
Meaning: To fail to reach a target or standard
Example: The funds raised fell short of their goal.
