Be unsuccessful
The crossword clue "Be unsuccessful" is answered by FAIL, a 4-letter entry. Used 16 times across 11 distinct years; most recently in 2026; first recorded in 1999. It appears in 7 publications in the xd corpus. Every figure on this page comes from the collection data itself, never from a guess.
The answer
FAIL
4 letters. See every clue for this answer on the FAIL answer page.
Used 16 times across 11 distinct years; most recently in 2026; first recorded in 1999. It appears in 7 publications in the xd corpus. Frequency and last-seen figures come from the xd crossword corpus only.
Other answers for this clue
The same clue has also been answered these ways in the xd corpus. Answers inside this collection link to their own answer page.
Other clues for FAIL
Every other clue in this collection answered by FAIL, most used first.
- Go belly up - used 32 times, most recently in 2023
- Fall short - used 26 times, most recently in 2026
- Flunk - used 25 times, most recently in 2025
- Get an F - used 21 times, most recently in 2025
- Come up short - used 17 times, most recently in 2026
- Go under - used 16 times, most recently in 2025
- Go bankrupt - used 11 times, most recently in 2023
- Epic ___ - used 10 times, most recently in 2026
- Flunk out - used 10 times, most recently in 2023
- Not make the grade - used 9 times, most recently in 2015
- Disappoint. - used 7 times, most recently in 1986
- Give out - used 7 times, most recently in 2019
- Fall flat - used 6 times, most recently in 2022
- Miss the mark - used 6 times, most recently in 2024
- Not pass - used 6 times, most recently in 2024
- Strike out - used 6 times, most recently in 2013
- Wash out - used 6 times, most recently in 2016
Related clues
Clues in this collection of the same answer length that share a word with this clue, or match its answer pattern when no word is shared. Most used first.
- Unsuccessful film - BOMB, used 6 times
Search the clue collection
Search by clue words or by answer, or type a pattern with the letters you have and a blank for each square you do not know. The characters _ ? . and - all work as blanks.