Failed
Malfunctioning and failed are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Malfunctioning" instead an adjective "Failed".
Malfunctioning
Malfunctioning adjective - Not being in working order.
Failed and malfunctioning are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Failed" instead an adjective "Malfunctioning".
Nearby Words: malfunction, malfunctioned
Both words in one sentence
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This applies double if whatever he's attempting is in any way nautical, such as when he got lost at sea for two years because he failed to notice his compass was malfunctioning.
Source: General Failure - On July 13th, 1978, as he was leaning over to check some malfunctioning equipment when the safety mechanisms for the accelerator failed.
Source: Made Of Iron / Real Life - As opposed to Sheltem, however, he is not malfunctioning, just caught between his programming and the realization that the Ancients might have failed to consider this situation or deemed it acceptable losses.
Source: Big Bad / Video Games
Cite this Source
Malfunctioning and Failed. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 13, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/failed/malfunctioning
Failed & Malfunctioning. N.p., 2016. Web. 13 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/failed/malfunctioning>.
Malfunctioning or Failed. 2016. Accessed August 13, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/failed/malfunctioning.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "failed" and "malfunctioning" have occurred on timeline