silent failure
Quiet system breakdown
Silent failure is when something goes wrong without producing any warning, error message, or obvious indication of the problem.
Common in software and systems: a script silently fails when it stops working but doesn't alert anyone.
The danger is that problems compound unnoticed: The backup had been silently failing for months.
Extends to human contexts—a silent failure in communication is a message that seems sent but never lands.
- quietLacking in sound
- bugCrawling creature or defect
- undetectedNot discovered yet
- under the radarUndetected by scrutiny
- errorFault in communication
glitch · hidden · unnoticed · edge case · graceful degradation · breakdown · malfunction · overlooked · invisible · sneaky · catastrophe · latent · ticking time bomb · unhandled · null · void · dead code · timeout
- Computer Errorserror message, crash, warning, internal error, fatal error
- software bugsbug, error, glitch, defect, fault
silent failureloud crash
system crash · blue screen of death · kernel panic · crash · fatal error
silent failurealert
Warning or watchfulness
stack trace · error message · alarm · warning message · warning
silent, silence, silently, silences, silenced, silencing, silencer, silencers, fail