Synonyms of backfiring

backfiring

verb

present participle of backfire

as in collapsing

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

• collapsing
• flopping
• boomeranging
• struggling
• slipping
• folding
• floundering
• flunking
• waning
• slumping
• washing out
• declining

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• succeeding
• flourishing
• thriving
• prospering

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of backfiring

Trump also put himself at the center of several races and picked candidates himself, which an NBC analyst described as backfiring on the candidates involved. — Catherina Gioino, Fortune, 4 Nov. 2026

Some people were chatting outside the church when something sounded like an engine backfiring. — ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026

The plan appears to be backfiring spectacularly, at least in south Texas. — Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026

And as anyone who’s ever seen a science-fiction movie knows, megadoses have a way of backfiring. — Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 21 Oct. 2026

But then others questioned the group’s independence, highlighted LTF’s controversial and backfiring track record, and worried about the super PAC’s toxic effect on OpenAI’s brand and retention of senior researchers. — Garrison Lovely, semafor.com, 2 Oct. 2026

Yet, on so many fronts, Trump’s assertion of that power appears to be backfiring. — Ishaan Tharoor, New Yorker, 3 Sep. 2026

But the weak-yen policy her party championed for decades is now backfiring in real time. — William Pesek, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2026

Or the war inside Iran by a regime whose new fear campaign against its people appears to be backfiring? — The Christian Science Monitor, Christian Science Monitor, 3 Aug. 2026