Synonyms of misfiring

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

• failing
• stalling
• falling short
• missing
• falling flat
• miscarrying
• dying
• flopping
• struggling
• crashing
• coming to grief
• coming a cropper
• foundering
• floundering
• folding
• flunking
• slumping
• fizzling
• skidding
• bombing
• slipping
• waning
• busting
• washing out
• tanking
• declining
• breaking down
• flaming out
• conking (out)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• succeeding
• prevailing
• thriving
• flourishing
• prospering

Example Sentences

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