| 吹了 | chuī le | failed / busted / to have not succeeded / to have died / to have parted company / to have chilled (of a relationship) |  |
| 未成 | wèi chéng | minor (i.e. person under 18) / incomplete / unachieved / failed / abortive | |
| 重修 | chóng xiū | to reconstruct / to repair / to revamp / to revise / to retake a failed course | |
| 彭德怀 | Péng Dé huái | Peng Dehuai (1898-1974), top communist general, subsequently politician and politburo member, disgraced after attacking Mao's failed policies in 1959, and died after extensive persecution during the Cultural Revolution | |
| 愧对 | kuì duì | to be ashamed to face (sb) / to feel bad about having failed (sb) | |
| 梁启超 | Liáng Qǐ chāo | Liang Qichao (1873-1929), influential journalist and a leader of the failed reform movement of 1898 | |
| 康有为 | Kāng Yǒu wéi | Kang Youwei (1858-1927), Confucian intellectual, educator and would-be reformer, main leader of the failed reform movement of 1898 | |
| 范仲淹 | Fàn Zhòng yān | Fan Zhongyan (989-1052), minister of Northern Song who led the failed reform of 1043, author of On Yueyang Tower 岳陽樓記|岳阳楼记 | |
| 恨铁不成钢 | hèn tiě bù chéng gāng | lit. disappointed that iron does not turn into steel (idiom) / fig. frustrated with sb who has failed to meet one's expectations |  |
| 戊戌变法 | Wù xū Biàn fǎ | Hundred Days Reform (1898), failed attempt to reform the Qing dynasty | |
| 壹败涂地 | yī bài tú dì | beaten and wiped over the floor (idiom) / to fail utterly / a crushing defeat / failed and in a hopeless position | |
| 百日维新 | Bǎi rì Wéi xīn | Hundred Days Reform (1898), failed attempt to reform the Qing dynasty | |
| 维新变法 | Wéi xīn Biàn fǎ | Hundred Days Reform (1898), failed attempt to reform the Qing dynasty | |
| 太平天国之乱 | Tài píng Tiān guó zhī Luàn | Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864), which ultimately failed but caused massive upheaval and weakened the Qing dynasty | |
| 庆历新政 | Qìng lì xīn zhèng | failed reform of Northern Song government in 1043 | |
| 戊戌六君子 | Wù xū Liù jūn zǐ | the Six Gentlemen Martyrs of the failed reform movement of 1898, executed in its aftermath, namely: Tan Sitong 譚嗣同|谭嗣同[Tan2 Si4 tong2], Lin Xu 林旭[Lin2 Xu4], Yang Shenxiu 楊深秀|杨深秀[Yang2 Shen1 xiu4], Liu Guangdi 劉光第|刘光第[Liu2 Guang1 di4], Kang Guangren 康廣仁|康广仁[Kang1 Guang3 ren2] and Yang Rui 楊銳|杨锐[Yang2 Rui4] | |
| 戊戌维新 | Wù xū Wéi xīn | Hundred Days Reform (1898), failed attempt to reform the Qing dynasty | |
| 斯大林格勒战役 | Sī dà lín gé lè Zhàn yì | Battle of Stalingrad (1942-1943), decisive battle of Second World War and one of the bloodiest battles in history, when the Germans failed to take Stalingrad, were then trapped and destroyed by Soviet forces | |
| 永贞革新 | Yǒng zhēn Gé xīn | Yongzhen Reform, Tang dynasty failed reform movement of 805 led by Wang Shuwen 王叔文[Wang2 Shu1 wen2] | |
| 王伾 | Wáng pī | Wang Pi (-c. 806), Tang dynasty chancellor and a leader of failed Yongzhen reform 永貞革新|永贞革新 / of 805 | |
| 王叔文 | Wáng Shū wén | Wang Shuwen (735-806), famous Tang dynasty scholar, Go player and politician, a leader of failed Yongzhen Reform 永貞革新|永贞革新[Yong3 zhen1 Ge2 xin1] of 805 | |
| 胎死腹中 | tāi sǐ fù zhōng | fetus dies in the belly / (fig.) plans or projects failed before being carried out | |
| 休眠洋脊 | xiū mián yáng jǐ | extinct oceanic ridge / extinct spreading ridge / failed rift | |
| 陷于崩溃的国家 | | failed State / collapsed State | |
| 处于无政府状态的国家 | | failed State / collapsed State | |
| 丧失能力的国家 | | failed State / collapsed State | |
| 关于崩溃国家的倡议 | | Failed States Initiative | |
| 失信被执行人 | shī xìn bèi zhí xíng rén | (law) judgement defaulter (person who has failed to fulfill obligations set forth in a written court judgement, such as paying compensation to sb, despite having the means to do so) / debt dodger | |
| 出师未捷身先死 | chū shī wèi jié shēn xiān sǐ | "he failed to complete his quest before death" (line from the poem "The Premier of Shu" 蜀相[Shu3 xiang4] by Du Fu 杜甫[Du4 Fu3]) | |
