flunk

The difference between dropping the SAT and dropping the civil service examination is that incompetent students flunk out in a year or so.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026

It’s saying, “Oh, yay, I get to flunk another math test this week,” when what you mean is that you are freaked out about your consistently terrible grades in math class.

From Salon ● Nov. 29, 2024

This other teacher is going to flunk me.

From Scientific American ● Oct. 13, 2022

With the new systems, they can still flunk, and they are still responsible for making academic progress.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 28, 2022

See, Katherine, I am not going to flunk out as a cry for help! he thought.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Jack plays her love interest, beating Rock Hudson, who flunks his screen test by mixing up his lines.

From The Guardian ● May 21, 2020

Andy’s so busy with his secretary planning the high-school graduation that he flunks a final.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 17, 2020

Gundy claimed that SORNA’s retroactivity provision flunks that test.

From Slate ● Jun. 20, 2019

As a policy argument, Friedman’s thesis flunks key empirical tests.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2016

“We just saw this episode two weeks ago. Lashonda flunks home ec and gets caught lending Troy’s letter jacket to that college guy she’s been dating on the side.”

From "Schooled" by Gordon Korman

According to a new report published by the Success Academy charter-school network, in nearly half of the city’s schools most students flunked standardized tests in math and reading last year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Masse’s professors would have flunked him if he used artificial intelligence for designs and images, he said.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026

But he flunked his second effort, meaning he had to produce something special in his third run -- and he did not disappoint.

From Barron's ● Feb. 7, 2026

In the years following graduation, Jenner and Pratt would team up to produce “The Princes Of Malibu,” but only after Pratt, who was attending USC, almost flunked a course in business trigonometry.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 27, 2026

So then Bertha told us a story about her friend Denise who flunked out of beauty school.

From "Wish" by Barbara O'Connor

The freshman and sophomore years were tough, with some core courses flunking or dropping almost half the students.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026

On each corner of 23rd Avenue and Jefferson Street, including by the Ezell’s Famous Chicken, protesters carried signs reading “Shots Fired, We’re Tired,” or “report cards” grading Seattle Public Schools as flunking on safety.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 20, 2024

After flunking out of the Marines as a bomb-sniffing dog, the mixed-breed stray was roaming the streets when he followed Elizabeth home one day.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2023

He also described flunking his first chemistry exam as a first-year undergraduate student.

From Reuters ● Oct. 4, 2023

Nobody ever asked to join her program—students were assigned to it after they’d missed so much school they were in danger of flunking out, dropping out, or getting kicked off the roster.

From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater