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
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Recent Examples of backfiring
Why is Trump’s dealmaking backfiring so spectacularly?
—
Vivek Viswanathan, The Atlantic, 22 Sep. 2025
Still, some economists say the administration’s chaotic trade strategy is backfiring in at least two ways.
—Matt Egan, CNN Money, 9 Sep. 2025
Propping up unpopular regional governments risks backfiring on Gulf Arab leaders in one of two ways.
—David Mednicoff, The Conversation, 9 Sep. 2025
However, with the growth of social media and consumer advocacy, retailers are being more cautious about communications to prevent backfiring, not only from investors and analysts but from their core customer base.
—Shelley E. Kohan, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Yet his effort to divide the West is backfiring.
—Kay Bailey Hutchison, Time, 1 Sep. 2025
But his classics lesson is backfiring.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 25 Aug. 2025
Others argue that further restrictions risk backfiring, and could prompt Beijing to accelerate efforts to develop domestic alternatives and reduce reliance on American suppliers.
—Anniek Bao, CNBC, 11 Aug. 2025
Hasen explained that attempts to redraw congressional maps this aggressively sometimes end up backfiring and actually helping the minority party.
—Caroline Mimbs Nyce, New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2025
Vivek Viswanathan, The Atlantic, 22 Sep. 2025
Still, some economists say the administration’s chaotic trade strategy is backfiring in at least two ways.
—Matt Egan, CNN Money, 9 Sep. 2025
Propping up unpopular regional governments risks backfiring on Gulf Arab leaders in one of two ways.
—David Mednicoff, The Conversation, 9 Sep. 2025
However, with the growth of social media and consumer advocacy, retailers are being more cautious about communications to prevent backfiring, not only from investors and analysts but from their core customer base.
—Shelley E. Kohan, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Yet his effort to divide the West is backfiring.
—Kay Bailey Hutchison, Time, 1 Sep. 2025
But his classics lesson is backfiring.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 25 Aug. 2025
Others argue that further restrictions risk backfiring, and could prompt Beijing to accelerate efforts to develop domestic alternatives and reduce reliance on American suppliers.
—Anniek Bao, CNBC, 11 Aug. 2025
Hasen explained that attempts to redraw congressional maps this aggressively sometimes end up backfiring and actually helping the minority party.
—Caroline Mimbs Nyce, New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for backfiring
Verb
-
Last week, as financial panic escalated following Milei’s party’s poor showing in local elections, Argentina’s central bank spent more than $1 billion of its foreign currency reserves to keep the peso from collapsing.—
Allison Morrow,
CNN Money,
25 Sep. 2025
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Long after John Quincy Adams passed away in 1848 (collapsing of a stroke while working at his desk in the Capitol), newer versions emerged—as Jim Crow laws, after the failure of Reconstruction in the 1870s, and later as the filibuster during the civil rights movement of the mid-20th century.—
Time,
Time,
24 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Splinter after splinter flopping onto the stone threshold, tsss, tsss, hissing like a nest of vipers.—
Zuzana Říhová,
Literary Hub,
26 Sep. 2025
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This Colombian has been flopping in the US since 2003, has apparently not had a job since 2014.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
26 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Backfiring.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/backfiring. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.
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