Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

fail-safe

/ˈfeɪlˌseɪf/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.48 in modern English

Syllables: fail-safe
IPA: /ˈfeɪlˌseɪf/

14

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

That does not cause undue damage in the event of failure.

adj

Designed to shut off for safety if an emergency occurs.

noun

A device, mechanism or measure designed to make something fail-safe.

verb

To compensate automatically, in the event of a failure.

verb

To make a device or mechanism fail-safe, or to add a fail-safe device or mechanism to an existing system.

Example Sentences

"The system is failsafe, because everything is backed up automatically."
"All equipment is, of course, of "fail-safe" pattern."

Inflected Forms

fail-safes (plural) fail-safes (present, singular) fail-safing (participle, present) fail-safed (participle, past) fail-safed (past) fail safe (alternative)

Phrases

fault-tolerant

Frequently Paired Words

fault-tolerant foolproof guardrail fail-deadly failsoft

Rhymes With

half staff laugh behalf graph calf raf giraffe graf graff chaff raff

Questions

How do you pronounce fail-safe?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈfeɪlˌseɪf/.
What does fail-safe mean?: That does not cause undue damage in the event of failure.

How to pronounce fail-safe

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “fail-safe”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈfeɪlˌseɪf/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “fail-safe”.
Repeat and practice — Say “fail-safe” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.