misfiring

verb

present participle of misfire
as in failing
to go wrong their scheme to rob the bank misfired disastrously and landed them all in jail

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 misfiring Manchester United The disappointment of 2024-25 was somewhat rectified by a summer spent remodelling a misfiring attack. — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 21 May 2026 The Celtics fell into an early 11-4 hole while misfiring on seven of their first nine shots. — Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 1 May 2026 Omega-3 fatty acids work by preventing the inflammatory response from misfiring, per Koff. — Kirsten Nunez, Martha Stewart, 5 Apr. 2026 While Heinrich ponders the misfiring neurons in the brain of a mass shooter, Jack’s pursuit of Mink—a character whose skin color and ambiguous ethnicity Jack remarks on repeatedly—leads him directly into the urban teeth of the War on Drugs. — Literary Hub, 1 Apr. 2026 Medication can help but the main treatment is ablation, when doctors thread catheters to the heart to burn misfiring tissue. — ABC News, 1 Apr. 2026 Then came the shot the crowd had been waiting for as the Pioneer had been misfiring all night from 3-point land. — Jerry McDonald, Mercury News, 15 Mar. 2026 Given Young’s music centers around modern, misfiring romance, the statement was unexpected. — Ramon Ramirez, Austin American Statesman, 13 Mar. 2026 Initially, speculation swirled online that the blast at the school could have been caused by misfiring Iranian air defenses, as the IRGC tried to repel incoming air strikes. — Gianluca Mezzofiore, CNN Money, 9 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for misfiring
  1. failing
  2. stalling
  3. missing
Verb
  • Plaintiffs alleged that the event promoters were negligent in failing to secure required permits, not providing adequate security or crowd control and misrepresenting the event as safe for families, according to the statement.
    — Lillie Davidson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 16 July 2026
  • He was revisited by a vague feeling of physical ineptitude that’d haunted him since childhood; failing to throw the ball properly on sports day at primary school, his father watching.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 July 2026
Definition of failing
Verb
  • Oil tankers are now reluctant to travel through the Strait of Hormuz, stalling supplies as a result.
    — Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 9 July 2026
  • Nobody is publicly discussing details about those issues, possibly because a few previous public-private development projects in Connecticut ended up in court after stalling.
    — Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 6 July 2026
Definition of stalling
Verb
  • In the early days, the page teemed with posts sharing objects found, along with heartfelt and, at times, gut-wrenching pleas for missing personal items.
    — Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN Money, 6 July 2026
  • Buxton rejoined the Twins on Saturday after missing the team’s previous four games with a right hip impingement.
    — Dan Hayes, New York Times, 6 July 2026
Definition of missing

Browse Nearby Words

misfires
misfiring
misfit
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Cite this Entry

“Misfiring.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/misfiring. Accessed 16 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on misfiring

Nglish: Translation of misfiring for Spanish Speakers

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