I'm looking for a more formal expression or word that indicates failure to the extent that one would have to work very hard to achieve it. I'm aware of the idiom "epic fail" but I'm looking for something not as common, casual, or unkind. [Edit/question augmentation]: An example might be getting a negative score on a test for which a "zero" score was previously thought to be the worst outcome.
Learn English – Requesting a word or idiom for “impressive failure.”
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Best Answer
I've seen media use the term spectacular failure for something that really failed:
http://www.wired.com/1999/12/a-century-of-spectacular-failure/ https://www.entrepreneur.com/video/274191 http://www.fastcompany.com/3026253/dialed/5-famous-entrepreneurs-who-learned-from-their-first-spectacular-failures http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/peggy-nash/ndp-needs-leader-who-can-inspire_b_9619998.html