Meaning

1 senses

  1. (idiomatic, informal)To advance in one's career despite failure or incompetence.

Forms

fails upwards, failing upwards, failed upwards, failed upwards
Base formfail upwards · to fail upwards
3rd person singularfails upwards
Present participlefailing upwards
Past simplefailed upwards
Past participlefailed upwards

irregular

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theyfail upwards
he, she, itfails upwards

Past simpleLesson

all personsfailed upwards

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave failed upwards
he, she, ithas failed upwards

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill fail upwards

Synonyms

1 synonyms
fail up the ladder

Word family

2 related words
Relatedfall upkick upstairs

Lessons for this word

3 lessons

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
faggotfailA2failingfailureB1faintB1
fail upwards — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto