McCartney, the Rio Olympic bronze medallist, failed to record a height, while the other two New Zealanders in the field, Olivia McTaggart and Imogen Ayris, also both failed to qualify for the final.
McCartney says a flare-up of an old Achilles injury just before the championships prevented her from performing at her best.
"Obviously it is not a good night. A couple of weeks ago I had a flare up with my Achilles. It has been on and off during the year and unfortunately it happened right before World Champs.
"I gave it my best shot. I could have retired but I thought I would give it a go and see what happened, but after that second attempt, which was me putting everything I could into it, I pulled up short. It was just too much tonight and that can, unfortunately, happen in sport."
Zoe Hobbs missed out on the 100m final after finishing fourth in her semi-final with the tenth fastest time of 11.02 seconds.
"It is obviously bittersweet to miss the finals by 0.01, but I can't not be both happy and proud tonight of how the race went, and I don't have any regrets of how I executed the race." Hobbs said afterwards.
"I was drawn in a stacked semi and knew if I wanted to make that final, I needed to stay composed in my own lane and just execute my own race. As it turns out it was the fastest semifinal we've had in history, so to have executed, where it mattered most I am very happy with."
Sha'Carri Richardson of the US finally delivered on three years of promise when she overcame the challenge of being stuck out in lane nine by delivering a late surge to win the 100 metres gold.
Richardson clocked 10.65 seconds after catching Jamaica's Shericka Jackson, who took silver in 10.72.
Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who was seeking a remarkable sixth world 100m title at the age of 36 after an injury-hit season, had to settle for bronze in 10.77.
Richardson, 23, missed the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 after testing positive for cannabis then failed to qualify for last year's worlds on home soil in Eugene.
New Zealand's Connor Bell was tenth in the men's discus final and Portia Bing finished last in her heat of the 400 hurdles after falling at the second to last hurdle.
