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 The second worker was clipped in the jaw by a misfiring nail gun. — Kevin Kruse, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for misfiring
  1. failing
  2. stalling
  3. missing
Verb
  • But by the time of his indictment, Lorch was in failing health and found incompetent to stand trial, and lawsuits against him and the church were dismissed due to statute of limitations issues.
    — Luke Cyphers, Sportico.com, 13 Aug. 2026
  • Then Dart struggled again on Wednesday, failing to move the ball at all on a couple drives at the end of practice.
    — Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of failing
Verb
  • Mendoza went three and out on his third drive, but then methodically marched the offense down the field before stalling.
    — Sam Warren, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2026
  • In May 2023, Serbia and Kosovo reached an agreement which included commitments by both sides to clarify the fate of the missing, but Kosovo and Serbia have accused each other of stalling efforts to work together.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of stalling
Verb
  • Ordinarily, the subtle tilt in the moon's orbit causes its shadow to pass just below, or above our planet, missing it entirely.
    — Anthony Wood, Space.com, 9 Aug. 2026
  • In between, Nelson was fired after less than one season in New York in 1995-96, then coached in Dallas for eight seasons, missing 21 games with the Mavericks starting in December 2000 to recuperate from prostate cancer surgery.
    — John Raby, Chicago Tribune, 9 Aug. 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 15 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of misfiring for Spanish Speakers

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