Failure and Poverty · C2 English Vocabulary List

not effective in achieving the intended purpose

"The treatment is inefficacious."

"The medicine proved inefficacious in clinical trials and the pharmaceutical company decided to discontinue its development because it did not help patients."

not doing well or not having enough money or success

"The business is unprosperous."

"The unprosperous region suffered from high unemployment and poverty and many young people moved away to find better opportunities in larger cities."

poorly executed or managed, resulting in a failure to achieve the intended outcome

"The operation was bungled."

"The police bungled the investigation by failing to secure the crime scene and crucial evidence was lost or contaminated by careless officers."

resulting in little or no effect or success

"His efforts were unavailing."

"The student made an unavailing attempt to convince the professor to extend the deadline but the teacher refused to grant any additional time for the assignment."

suffering or experiencing a lack of progress, vitality, or growth, often characterized by a feeling of being stuck or in decline

"The plant is languishing."

"The languishing plant had not been watered for weeks and its leaves were turning yellow and falling off one by one."

prevented from succeeding or achieving a desired outcome

"The plan was foiled."

"The thief's plan was foiled by a security guard who noticed him trying to break into the store and called the police immediately."

extremely poor or unwilling to spend money

"He is penurious."

"The penurious scholar lived in a tiny room, dedicating his life to study rather than comfort."

describing a situation where income is just sufficient to cover basic needs

"They live hand-to-mouth."

"The family lived a hand-to-mouth existence after the father lost his job and they could barely afford food and rent each month."

severely lacking money

"The student is impecunious."

"The impecunious artist could not afford to buy new paints so she mixed her own colors from cheap materials she found at the store."

oppressed or treated unfairly, especially by those in power

"The people are downtrodden."

"The downtrodden workers finally went on strike to demand better wages and working conditions after years of being mistreated by their employer."

extremely poor

"The amount is beggarly."

"The beggarly sum offered by the insurance company was not enough to cover the damage to his car so he hired a lawyer."

to handle a task or activity clumsily, often causing damage or problem

"He bungled the simple repair job."

"The inexperienced contractor managed to bungle the entire renovation project and the house was left in worse condition than before."

to fail or end in a weak or disappointing manner

"The fireworks fizzled out in the rain."

"The firework display started well but then fizzled out quickly because the shells had gotten wet in the rain."

to not succeed as much as intended

"The team underperformed during the championship."

"The company's stock price fell sharply after the CEO admitted that the sales team had continued to underperform for three consecutive quarters."

to give up, surrender, or part with a possession, right, or claim

"He relinquished control of the company."

"The old man was forced to relinquish control of the family business to his son after his health began to decline rapidly."

lacking essential non-material needs, such as support, love, or community

"The family is destitute."

"The destitute family had no food or money and the community organized a food drive to help them."

to have a result contrary to what one desired or intended

"His plan backfired and caused more problems."

"His plan to embarrass his coworker completely backfired and ended up making him look foolish instead in front of everyone."

to fail to be successful or make any progress

"The prisoner languished in jail for years."

"The talented actor continued to languish in obscurity for many years before finally getting his big break in Hollywood."

(of a company, organization, etc.) to close or stop trading due to financial problems

"The shop had to fold."

"Unfortunately, the small independent bookstore was forced to fold after a few difficult years."

(of a plan) to fail to have the intended result

"The plan misfired badly."

"The ambitious plan to launch the product early seemed to misfire due to unforeseen logistical problems."