boomerangs

verb

present tense third-person singular of boomerang
as in collapses
to have the reverse of the desired or expected effect the well-meaning gesture boomeranged, since he ended up being offended by it

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 boomerangs Finding a way to bring value to others always boomerangs in some way. — Victoria Thomas, Rolling Stone, 21 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for boomerangs
  1. collapses
  2. flops
  3. backfires
Verb
  • Shunned by his own fans, spurned by the people who had previously cheered his every word, and ultimately left bellowing into the rafters of an echoing, empty mansion, Rhodes collapses into his own narcissistic madness.
    — Sasha Abramsky, Washington Post, 5 Nov. 2026
  • This results in a very large star, which eventually collapses to become an intermediate-mass black hole.
    — Robert Lea, Space.com, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of collapses
Verb
  • The importance of competition There are three specific reasons why vote buying usually flops.
    — Kenneth Greene, The Conversation, 21 Oct. 2026
  • In Bait, Ahmed stars as struggling actor Shah Latif, who flops in his audition to play James Bond and then becomes consumed by the quest to become the first Pakistani 007.
    — Chris Murphy, Vanity Fair, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of flops
Verb
  • Bob Dylan meets the pope, a Republican plan backfires, and the Met Gala unveils its 2027 theme (again).
    — Olivia Eckstine, NBC news, 7 Nov. 2026
  • Influencer prank intended to humiliate Red Baron pizza worker backfires in the most satisfying way possible.
    — Jim Edwards, Fortune, 4 Nov. 2026
Definition of backfires

Browse Nearby Words

boomeranging
boomerangs
booming
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Boomerangs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/boomerangs. Accessed 13 Nov. 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!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

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

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

The Words of the Week - Nov. 13

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

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

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
speech-bubble-untangle
Simplify The Convoluted Expression Quiz A quiz that’s as “uncomplicated as a round de...
See All