One syllable: Fail.
fayl
/feɪl/
Fail is pronounced fayl (/feɪl/). It has one syllable (Fail), with the stress on "Fail". Fail (as a verb) means to be unsuccessful in achieving a goal or standard, or to lapse in performance or compliance. It can also mean to omit meeting a required threshold, such as failing a test. The term carries practical, evaluative implications in education, work, and systems, and is often contrasted with success or passing status.
verbFail (as a verb) means to be unsuccessful in achieving a goal or standard, or to lapse in performance or compliance. It can also mean to omit meeting a required threshold, such as failing a test. The term carries practical, evaluative implications in education, work, and systems, and is often contrasted with success or passing status.
"She will fail the exam if she doesn't study."
"The machine will fail if it overheats."
"If the signal drops, the system may fail to initialize."
Fail is pronounced with a single syllable: /feɪl/. The initial sound is the voiceless labiodental fricative /f/, followed by the long diphthong /eɪ/ that glides from /e/ to /ɪ/ within the same vowel, ending with the light dark /l/. Make sure your lips start gently closed for /f/ and then loosen into the /eɪ/ glide, finishing with the tip of the tongue touching the alveolar ridge for /l/. Tip: keep the consonant release smooth and avoid pausing between the vowel and /l/ for a natural flow. If you’re recording, you should hear a clean, bright /feɪl/ without extraneous vowels.”,
Common mistakes include pronouncing it as /faɪl/ (a confusion with the /aɪ/ diphthong, which shifts the sound) or ending with a stronger /ɫ/ or a more drawn-out final consonant. Another error is producing a stiffer, clipped /f/ or a nasalized ending like /feil/ with extra vowel color. To correct: ensure the vowel remains a pure /eɪ/ glide, keep the /f/ airflow steady, and finish with a quick, light alveolar /l/ that does not add extra vowel. Practice by segmenting as /f/ + /eɪ/ + /l/, then blend, and use a mirror to monitor lip shaping; you’ll get a cleaner, sharper pronunciation.”,
Across US, UK, and AU, /feɪl/ remains the base, but rhoticity and vowel quality can vary slightly. US English tends to have a more centered, clipped /ɪ/ quality in the following vowels in connected speech, with a bright /eɪ/ that glides quickly; UK English often presents a slightly more conservative /eɪ/ with less tongue retraction, and may feature a crisper /l/ in some regional dialects; Australian English maintains /feɪl/ but with a more centralized, lighter /l/ and a softer, less precise /f/ in some casual speech. In all, the nucleus remains /eɪ/ and the onset is /f/, but the vowel length and lip movement can shift subtly with accent.”,
The difficulty centers on accurately producing the diphthong /eɪ/ and the final /l/. The /eɪ/ glide requires a precise, controlled movement from mid to high-front tongue position while keeping the lips relaxed; many learners substitute with a monophthong or misplace the tongue, turning it into /e/ or /ɛ/. The /l/ can be challenging if you have a dark/light l split or if the tongue tip doesn’t touch the alveolar ridge. Focus on a clean onset /f/ and a seamless transition into /eɪ/ and then a crisp /l/ without adding extra vowel.”,
A unique point is the precision of the /l/ consonant. In careful speech, the tip of the tongue lightly contacts the alveolar ridge to produce a light, clear /l/, with minimal vocalic coloring. Another distinctive aspect is the tight coupling of /f/ and /eɪ/; any pause or split between the onset, nucleus, and coda disrupts the natural single-syllable rhythm of fail. Intended learners should aim for a smooth, uninterrupted /f-eɪ-l/ sequence, matching native tempo and stress in connected speech.
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Fail comes from the Old French falir, meaning to disappoint or deceive, which itself derives from Vulgar Latin fallire, 'to prove false or to slip.' The root fall- expresses slipping or misstep; early senses in English described falling short of a standard rather than outright breaking. In Middle English, fail was used to mean to discharge from a role or to be deficient; by the 16th century, it broadened to include not meeting expectations or requirements, as in failing a test or failing to keep an obligation. Over time, the word acquired a broad, evaluative connotation in education and professional domains, often paired with “failure” to describe outcomes of not meeting criteria. The semantic field has expanded in modern usage to include systems and processes that fail, in addition to individuals who fail. The word retains its core sense of shortfall or collapse relative to an expected standard, and remains common in both casual and formal discourse. First known uses appear in Middle English texts addressing shortfall or deficiency, with continued usage across legal, educational, and technical contexts into contemporary usage.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "Fail" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "Fail" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "Fail"
-ail sounds
-ale sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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