fell behind

phrase

past tense of fall behind
as in delayed
to move or act slowly He lost his footing and fell behind in the relay.

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of fell behind The Brewers fell behind 4-0 in the second inning after Shohei Ohtani's three-run blast, but the team never wavered. — Ryan Canfield Outkick, FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2026 With the score tied 4-all, Mitchell fell behind 0-2 against reliever Tanner Scott leading off the sixth before taking three straight balls to run the count full. — ABC News, 15 Oct. 2026 Carter Hart stopped 24 shots for the Golden Knights, who fell behind 3-0 in the first period for the second time in three games. — CBS News, 13 Oct. 2026 Dallas fell behind 27-0 in the second quarter, capped by a 64-yard pick-six off quarterback Dak Prescott. — Jim Barnes, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 Oct. 2026 Northside trailed since the first quarter but never fell behind by more than a single possession. — Jack Leo, AJC.com, 9 Oct. 2026 The quality and value of its previous generation of Sticks fell behind consumer expectations. — Bilin Lin, Fortune, 4 Oct. 2026 The Sabres fell behind 2-0 on two ghastly defensive-zone plays. — Matthew Fairburn, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026 On the day after former coach Tony Reno died at the age of 52, the Yale football team fell behind early but then took control late and rallied for a 41-24 win over Merrimack in a nonconference game on an emotional Saturday at Yale Bowl in New Haven. — Staff Reports, Hartford Courant, 3 Oct. 2026

Browse Nearby Words

fell back on
fell behind
fell down
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Fell behind.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fell%20behind. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All