Dictionary

failson en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio

Etymology

Compound of fail + son.

Meanings

1. (Internet, derogatory) An incompetent, unsuccessful middle- or upper-class man who is protected from economic duress by his family's wealth or influence.
   • That manifests itself differently in different classes and geographic areas. For white, middle-class, male, useless people—who have just enough family context to not be crushed by poverty—they become failsons. 2016 November 18, Jia Tolentino, “What Will Become of the Dirtbag Left?”, in The New Yorker, archived from the original on 01 Feb 2018:
   • This is the thread for Failsons. We are disappointments to our families, burdens on societies, and NOT jealous of our older sibling's nice houses and luxury automobiles. 2012 November 20, Haoma, “Failson Hangout”, in The Something Awful Forums / FYAD, archived from the original on 19 Jul 2013:
   • [T]he white nationalism of internet failsons is like the allegiance to an imaginary caliphate that motivated the terrorists whose depredations helped get Trump elected in the first place. It's often just a carapace, a flag of convenience, a performance for the vast TV-and-online audience that now attends these grisly spectacles, with a malignant narcissism and nihilism underneath. 2019 August 6, Ross Douthat, “The Nihilist in Chief”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 12 Nov 2020:
   • But that is how it went for family failsons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. on Tuesday. 2017 June 7, Gary Legum, “Trump family grift is getting worse: Eric and Donald Jr. resurface with a discount hotel scam”, in Salon, archived from the original on 13 Jul 2017:
   • Zimbabwe’s people suffer while the spoiled failsons of the elite floss on the ’gram. 2017 December 5, Benjamin Fogel, “Why Do So Many Western Leftists Defend Robert Mugabe?”, in Jacobin, archived from the original on 30 Sep 2022:
   • Coordinate term: faildaughter

Forms