Idiom
god that failed
Meaning
A notable let-down or flop; a concept, product, or person that has failed to live up to very high expectations.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“That new phone is a god that failed.”
“Many investors now view the collapsed startup as a god that failed.”
“The ambitious software project was supposed to change the industry, but it became a god that failed after the launch crashed.”
“After the expensive restaurant received terrible reviews for its poor service and cold food, the famous chef realized his new venture was a god that failed.”
“The political movement, once hailed as a savior of the working class, eventually revealed itself as a god that failed, leaving its followers disillusioned and bitter.”
Examples
simple
“That new phone is a god that failed.”
“Many investors now view the collapsed startup as a god that failed.”
contextual
“The ambitious software project was supposed to change the industry, but it became a god that failed after the launch crashed.”
“After the expensive restaurant received terrible reviews for its poor service and cold food, the famous chef realized his new venture was a god that failed.”
complex
“The political movement, once hailed as a savior of the working class, eventually revealed itself as a god that failed, leaving its followers disillusioned and bitter.”
Origin
Popularised by the 1949 publication of *The God That Failed*, a collection of essays written by prominent ex-communists. The volume critiqued the ideology of communism, characterising the movement as a God that had proved insufficient. The title provided the template for the modern idiom, which retains the original nouns and the specific sense of a grand ideal found to be fundamentally flawed.
Key words
Related idioms
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