as in failing
to go wrong
their scheme to rob the bank misfired disastrously and landed them all in jail
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Recent Examples of misfiring
With Hugo Ekitike having already endeared himself to the fanbase, there’s too much attacking quality in the squad for Liverpool to keep misfiring.
—
James Pearce, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025
Your intuition might be misfiring!
—Usa Today, USA Today, 7 Aug. 2025
In the 1950s, researchers used a primitive electronic sensor to identify the misfiring neurons that give rise to Parkinson’s disease.
—IEEE Spectrum, 28 May 2022
James Pearce, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025
Your intuition might be misfiring!
—Usa Today, USA Today, 7 Aug. 2025
In the 1950s, researchers used a primitive electronic sensor to identify the misfiring neurons that give rise to Parkinson’s disease.
—IEEE Spectrum, 28 May 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for misfiring
Verb
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In August, five Northern Virginia school districts were found by the Department of Education to be in violation of Title IX for failing to roll back policies allowing transgender students.—
Jackson Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
12 Oct. 2025
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For Jonah, bottom wasn’t failing out of college and mulling suicide.—
Paul Solotaroff,
Rolling Stone,
12 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Damascus also accuses the Kurds of stalling by demanding lengthy engagements on every detail, an impossible task during a postwar transition.—
Hassan Hassan,
Time,
11 Oct. 2025
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At Kitchen Lake Bridge, drivers have told stories about headlights flickering and cars stalling.—
Beth Luberecki,
USA Today,
11 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Nathaniel’s latest work centers on young Myra (Innayah Umer), a 10-year-old navigating Lahore’s streets alone after missing her ride to school.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
13 Oct. 2025
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But the operation was not without misadventure against the Ravens, with kicker Joshua Karty missing a field goal off the right upright and long snapper Alex Ward delivering a high snap on the team’s second attempt.—
Adam Grosbard,
Oc Register,
13 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Misfiring.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/misfiring. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.
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