words fail someone
/ˈwɝdz feɪl ˈsʌmˌwʌn/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.49 in modern English
25
Scrabble Score
16
Letters
2
Syllables
12
Unique Chars
Meaning
phrase
Someone is incapable of describing something with words, especially due to fear, shock, or surprise.
Example Sentences
- "Nature has given me the passion for poesy, but refused me the boon of words and the faculty of expressing my thoughts. I think deeply, but when I wish to speak words fail me. If I wish to write, it is still worse."
- "Here he paused, so bewildered by the dignified unconsciousness and serene superiority of the potentate in whose presence he stood that words failed him, and he stood and gazed at that immovable countenance with a sort of appalled wonder to think that anything should be so great yet so small, so capable of making himself ridiculous, and yet with power to spoil two lives at his pleasure."
- "As she looked through more and more of these sheets, and found that they could be clustered, ordered, she realised with a start that the spaces were gaps in Hannah's memory of language, marking the beginning of her words failing her. Did she see that for herself? Did she write faster against the spreading of the gaps?"
- "Many survivors tried to describe what they felt, but words failed them. Hard to imagine, too, the emotions of the first responders – the ambulance crews, the medics and the police – faced by ghastly mayhem. It must have felt overwhelming, but they did their jobs and doubtless saved many lives."
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈwɝdz feɪl ˈsʌmˌwʌn/
- British English: /ˈwɜːdz feɪl ˈsʌmwʌn/
Inflected Forms
words fail (alternative)