as in fails
to go wrong
their scheme to rob the bank misfired disastrously and landed them all in jail
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Recent Examples of misfires
Peter White, Deadline, 24 Feb. 2026
As Wiener, the show’s curator, walks me through, her narration inevitably turns into a litany of the artist’s almosts, misfires, and losses.
—Christopher Bonanos, Curbed, 4 Feb. 2026
There were issues with intake manifold leaks, exhaust manifold cracking, coolant leaks, engine misfires due to corrosion, and water in the spark plug holes.
—John Paul, The Providence Journal, 9 Jan. 2026
In a bid to make Curtis jealous, Castor brings home from the nightclub the 20something Omar for an overnight hookup, but that misfires spectacularly.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Nov. 2025
As the moon and Mercury clash, your intuition misfires.
—Usa Today, USA Today, 13 Nov. 2025
In short, Nix often grounds his feet into the turf when he's afforded a clean pocket, doesn't appear to generate much momentum, and misfires because of it.
—Luca Evans, Denver Post, 21 Oct. 2025
To begin with, the company’s unprovoked faceplant was, if nothing else, one of the biggest public relations misfires in recent corporate history.
—Graham Hillard, The Washington Examiner, 5 Sep. 2025
Trump takes control of Washington police as liberal anchor's superhero mockery misfires.
—FOXNews.com, 13 Aug. 2025
Verb
The brain misfires on what feels charged or taboo.
—Peter White, Deadline, 24 Feb. 2026
As Wiener, the show’s curator, walks me through, her narration inevitably turns into a litany of the artist’s almosts, misfires, and losses.
—Christopher Bonanos, Curbed, 4 Feb. 2026
There were issues with intake manifold leaks, exhaust manifold cracking, coolant leaks, engine misfires due to corrosion, and water in the spark plug holes.
—John Paul, The Providence Journal, 9 Jan. 2026
In a bid to make Curtis jealous, Castor brings home from the nightclub the 20something Omar for an overnight hookup, but that misfires spectacularly.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Nov. 2025
As the moon and Mercury clash, your intuition misfires.
—Usa Today, USA Today, 13 Nov. 2025
In short, Nix often grounds his feet into the turf when he's afforded a clean pocket, doesn't appear to generate much momentum, and misfires because of it.
—Luca Evans, Denver Post, 21 Oct. 2025
To begin with, the company’s unprovoked faceplant was, if nothing else, one of the biggest public relations misfires in recent corporate history.
—Graham Hillard, The Washington Examiner, 5 Sep. 2025
Trump takes control of Washington police as liberal anchor's superhero mockery misfires.
—FOXNews.com, 13 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for misfires
Verb
-
The Nuggets’ season will go up in smoke if Gordon fails to provide an edge, toughness, defense and slow-heartbeat 3-pointers.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
9 Mar. 2026
-
If the software fails, there is nothing for a passenger to grab.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
9 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
To this end, the real number of bombs/missiles used could easily be 5,000–10,000+ weapons or more.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
8 Mar. 2026
-
Iran was clearly prepared, especially after the Twelve-Day War, last June, when the President ordered B-2 stealth warplanes to drop bunker-busting bombs on nuclear facilities in Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan.—
Robin Wright,
New Yorker,
8 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
If his progress stalls out, this team is in trouble.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
13 Feb. 2026
-
There is often community resistance that stalls the building of homes.—
Samantha Delouya,
CNN Money,
21 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Warm weather vacation essentials like bathing suits, towels, sunscreens, sunglasses, and flip flops are all popular basket-stuffers.—
Mary Shannon Wells,
Southern Living,
1 Mar. 2026
-
Two of last year’s most veteran teams, Penn State and Clemson, were flops.—
Pete Sampson,
New York Times,
23 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The aircraft, which has only 18 moving parts, is full of redundancy to prevent system failures.—
The Los Angeles Times,
Chicago Tribune,
4 Mar. 2026
-
Supervision failures at the jail and deaths that followed those failures have led to a pile of lawsuits.—
Ryan Oehrli
March 4,
Charlotte Observer,
4 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Sometimes things are too good to be true or simply don't work, but there are nuggets of gold among the duds.—
Melissa Epifano,
The Spruce,
26 Jan. 2026
-
This latest stretch all came on the heels of following up one of the best wins — not just of the season, but statistically in franchise history — in Oklahoma City with that pair of duds at home against Toronto and Indiana.—
Roderick Boone,
Charlotte Observer,
19 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Just after a third pregnancy also miscarries, Aje meets a young woman named Mayra in a hospital waiting room and the two get talking.—
Leslie Felperin,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Sep. 2019
Noun
-
Kennedy has made no bones about his misplaced skepticism of mRNA vaccines, pinging off the proliferating conspiracies around the COVID vaccines — incredible innovations that saved countless lives during one of the worst global catastrophes in recent memory.—
The Orlando Sentinel,
The Orlando Sentinel,
21 Feb. 2026
-
While Scarry’s books present such catastrophes with bright colors and good humor, Gomez undermines this cheer by superimposing on the mural a nearly all-black painting of a desolate tent encampment in front of a home destroyed by the Eaton fire.—
Sharon Mizota,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Misfires.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/misfires. Accessed 11 Mar. 2026.
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