Dictionary

epic fail en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (Internet) An utter failure, especially where success should have been reasonably expected.
   • The danger of using Epic Fury, as any political consultant could have warned the White House, is that if the war is not perceived as successful, it could easily be mocked as Operation Epic Fail. 2026 March 16, Peter Baker, “In Choosing ‘Epic Fury,’ Trump Names a War and Defines His Presidency”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 Mar 2026:
   • I'm tied to a chair. Epic fail. 2016, Kristen Reidel, “Bodies Of Water”, in 12 Monkeys, season 2, episode 5 (television production), spoken by Jennifer Goines (Emily Hampshire):
   • Bzzt! Wrong answer! That's what the kids call "epic fail." 2011, Peter Gould, “Problem Dog”, in Breaking Bad, season 4, episode 7 (television production), spoken by Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk):
   • “What, you thought you could flee to Canada and hide from your epic fail? […] 2014, Lauren Morrill, Being Sloane Jacobs, Delacorte Press, →ISBN, page 95:
   • Maybe next the cloud overhead would open up and a huge cartoon hand emerge from below, pointing at him, accompanied by a thunderous, authorial voice: TOM MERCER. EPIC FAIL. 2012, Zadie Smith, NW, London: Penguin Books, published 2013, →ISBN, page 131:
   • So yeah, epic fail on my part when I didn't recognize one of Kubrick's most iconic works, 2001: A Space Odyssey. 2014, Leah Raeder, Unteachable, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 29:
   • I was happy with my new, more sophisticated haircut but the rest of my efforts were pretty much epic fail. 2014, Sheila Agnew, Central Park Showdown, The O'Brien Press, →ISBN:
   • The second sentence is saying ‘Gina greedily anticipates even more than the monthly doubling of her bank balance’ — more than is modifying expects. Not the same meaning at all. Sorry computer, epic fail! 2013, Wendy M. Anderson, Geraldine Woods, Lesley J. Ward, English Grammar Essentials For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 30:

Forms

Deriveds

Operation Epic Fail

Relateds

task failed successfully

Translations (9)

es fracaso épico (total failure) · it fiasco epico (total failure) · ru фиа́ско (total failure) · ru сокруши́тельный прова́л (total failure) · fi täydellinen moka (total failure) · ru по́лный прова́л (total failure) · fr gros bide (total failure) · fr échec épique (total failure) · fr foirage épique (total failure)