failing

The word “failing” means a weakness or flaw in someone's character or ability. In plain terms, either a personal shortcoming, or a way of saying "if that doesn't work.".

“Failing” is pronounced FAY-lihng (/ˈfeɪ.lɪŋ/ in IPA).

Here is “failing” used in a sentence: “Impatience is one of his few failings.”

Depending on how it is used, “failing” can be a noun and a preposition.

“Failing” is a fairly common word in modern English.

“Failing” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a weakness or flaw in someone's character or ability.

A "failing" is a weakness or flaw in someone's character or ability, as in "his one failing is impatience." A "failure" is usually a lack of success or an unsuccessful thing or person, so a failing is a shortcoming rather than an outright unsuccessful outcome.

"Failing" acts as a preposition when it introduces a fallback option, as in "Failing a refund, they offered store credit." Here it means "in the absence of" or "if that is not available."

As a noun it appears in phrases like "a personal failing," "a common failing," and "despite his failings." As a preposition it is followed directly by a noun, as in "failing agreement" or "failing that."