crash and burn
Go down hard
To crash and burn is to fail spectacularly and completely, often publicly.
The phrase comes from aviation disasters but now applies to any dramatic collapse: His standup routine crashed and burned, The startup crashed and burned after six months.
It emphasizes not just failure but visible, total destruction—there's nothing left to salvage.
- flame outFail dramatically after promise
- fiascoHumiliating public failure
- train wreckUtter chaotic disaster
- failureLack of success
- backfireYield unintended consequences
wreck · disaster · implode · collapse · nosedive · up in smoke · debacle · go up in smoke · bite the dust · hit rock bottom · mistake · flop · catastrophe · tank · epic fail · defeat · downfall · fall from grace
- fleeting fameflash in the pan, one-hit wonder, fifteen minutes, 15 minutes, overnight sensation
- failingfail, fails, collapse, flop, bomb
- fire idiomsplay with fire, fight fire with fire, fan the flames, add fuel to fire, on fire
- racing termsbackstretch, checkered flag, daily double, dead heat, exacta
- flightflying, fly, flight, aviation, aircraft
- blundersblunder, blunders, blundered, mistakes, botch
crash and burnsucceed
Achieve a desired aim
triumph · soar · take off · hit it big · knock it out of the park
crash and burnsoft landing
Controlled, gradual descent
fade away · fizzle out · graceful exit · fade out · peter out
crash and burntake flight
Depart swiftly, often fearfully
skyrocket · ascend · rise and shine · take off · soar
burn, crash, burning, burned, crashing, crashed, burns, burner, crashes