falling flat
Missing the mark
Falling flat describes something that fails to produce the intended effect, especially humor or persuasion that meets no response: His joke fell flat.
The image is of something collapsing rather than landing upright—a performance that doesn't connect, an attempt that generates awkward silence instead of engagement.
- proneInclined or face-down
- face firstLeading with your features
- flopComplete commercial failure
- supineFlat, face upward
- misfireFailure to discharge
disappointment · botch · horizontal · collapse · prostrate · anticlimax · dud · letdown · topple · fiasco · sprawled · tumble · crumple · fizzle · dead on arrival · underwhelm · shortcoming · blunder
falling flatkilling it
Succeeding spectacularly
hitting the mark · succeeding · nailing it · landing · crushing it
falling flatkilling
Causing death deliberately
slaying · wowing · captivating · electrifying · going viral
falling flatsoaring
Rising effortlessly upward
taking off · coming alive · sparking · catching fire · sizzling
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