'失败' (shī bài) literally combines '失' (shī), meaning 'to lose' or 'to miss', and '败' (bài), meaning 'to be defeated' or 'to suffer defeat'. Together, they form a compound word that means 'to fail'—whether in an attempt, endeavor, test, relationship, or project. It emphasizes the outcome of not achieving a desired goal, often carrying a sense of disappointment or setback.

This word is commonly used in both spoken and written Chinese across formal and informal contexts—such as academic performance, business ventures, sports competitions, or personal goals. As a noun, it refers to 'a failure' (e.g., '这次失败让我很沮丧'); as a verb, it’s typically used with aspect particles like 了 or 过 (e.g., '考试失败了'). Unlike some English uses of 'fail', 失败 is rarely used transitively without additional structure—it usually stands alone or follows a subject + predicate pattern.