as in collapsed
to have the reverse of the desired or expected effect
my plan to throw her a surprise party backfired when she ended up thinking that everyone had forgotten her birthday
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 backfired
Politically, this strategy backfired on the mayor and ultimately his most vulnerable supporters.
—
Daniel Wortel-London, Washington Post, 5 Jan. 2026
His backup plan backfired in the moment, and the Super Bowl champions will start their postseason defense of the title as the 3 seed.
—CBS News, 4 Jan. 2026
This has backfired many times, perhaps most notably when the front office failed to clinch any deal for Vučević last February during the highest-value run of his Bulls tenure.
—Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 2 Jan. 2026
That transformation backfired spectacularly.
—Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 2 Jan. 2026
But Starbucks is now struggling, and its strategy of saturating urban areas to draw coffee drinkers on their way to work in the morning has backfired amid competition, the rise of remote work and rising costs.
—Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Money, 29 Dec. 2025
But reliance on foreign production backfired when the new duties took effect, Reddy said.
—Luke Fountain, CNBC, 25 Dec. 2025
The military’s expansionist model that persisted in building new luxury accommodations rather than improving the already existing ones and the quality of service eventually backfired.
—Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 23 Dec. 2025
But something backfired as Teigen prepared the extra-large candy canes for their big reveal.
—Marci Robin, Allure, 22 Dec. 2025
Daniel Wortel-London, Washington Post, 5 Jan. 2026
His backup plan backfired in the moment, and the Super Bowl champions will start their postseason defense of the title as the 3 seed.
—CBS News, 4 Jan. 2026
This has backfired many times, perhaps most notably when the front office failed to clinch any deal for Vučević last February during the highest-value run of his Bulls tenure.
—Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 2 Jan. 2026
That transformation backfired spectacularly.
—Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 2 Jan. 2026
But Starbucks is now struggling, and its strategy of saturating urban areas to draw coffee drinkers on their way to work in the morning has backfired amid competition, the rise of remote work and rising costs.
—Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Money, 29 Dec. 2025
But reliance on foreign production backfired when the new duties took effect, Reddy said.
—Luke Fountain, CNBC, 25 Dec. 2025
The military’s expansionist model that persisted in building new luxury accommodations rather than improving the already existing ones and the quality of service eventually backfired.
—Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 23 Dec. 2025
But something backfired as Teigen prepared the extra-large candy canes for their big reveal.
—Marci Robin, Allure, 22 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for backfired
Verb
-
The sofa was so collapsed that getting up from it felt like core strength training.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Nov. 2025
-
And then on Thursday, after most of the show had been written, a man collapsed in the Oval Office, generating an instantly meme-able photograph of the president staring into the camera, looking oblivious to efforts to revive the prone victim at stage left.—
Erik Adams,
The Atlantic,
9 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Early experiments, like the Humane AI pin, have flopped due to high prices and poor performance.—
Nicholas Gordon,
Fortune,
6 Jan. 2026
-
The huge painting of the naked woman flopped on a couch?—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
31 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
The wild part is how quickly that creator theme boomeranged back at us in real time.—
Dana Harris-Bridson,
IndieWire,
16 Dec. 2025
-
The most blatant of those on Sunday was Kelce converting a great opportunity into a play that boomeranged the other way.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
15 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Backfired.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/backfired. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share