as in increased
to become greater in extent, volume, amount, or number
the little problems we ignored began to snowball into huge headaches
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Recent Examples of snowballed
What started as a difficult period gradually snowballed into something that felt impossible to manage alone.
—
Jordan Greene, PEOPLE, 1 June 2026
The numbers snowballed as teachers grew to trust Danny Go!
—Veronique Greenwood, Time, 29 May 2026
What began as a tongue-in-cheek swipe against remarks made by the chief justice of the Supreme Court of India has snowballed into a satirical political movement on social media.
—Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 May 2026
The lack of depth snowballed into Oliver Glasner’s frustrations with the hierarchy amid a nine-game winless streak from December 14 to February 1.
—Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 21 May 2026
But exasperation took over, and the goals snowballed into a lopsided loss.
—Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 6 May 2026
The situation snowballed into what many viewed as a fractured relationship between Reese, her teammates and the front office.
—Amber Harding Outkick, FOXNews.com, 29 Apr. 2026
Four years later, the original concept has snowballed into a luxury hotel and working regenerative farm in the same model as South Africa’s Babylonstoren or Somerset’s The Newt, with grander plans still to come.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Apr. 2026
Then Yuki Matsui tweaked his groin in spring training, some soft contact snowballed on Adrián Morejón and Estrada began losing zip on his fastball.
—Jeff Sanders, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Apr. 2026
Jordan Greene, PEOPLE, 1 June 2026
The numbers snowballed as teachers grew to trust Danny Go!
—Veronique Greenwood, Time, 29 May 2026
What began as a tongue-in-cheek swipe against remarks made by the chief justice of the Supreme Court of India has snowballed into a satirical political movement on social media.
—Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 May 2026
The lack of depth snowballed into Oliver Glasner’s frustrations with the hierarchy amid a nine-game winless streak from December 14 to February 1.
—Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 21 May 2026
But exasperation took over, and the goals snowballed into a lopsided loss.
—Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 6 May 2026
The situation snowballed into what many viewed as a fractured relationship between Reese, her teammates and the front office.
—Amber Harding Outkick, FOXNews.com, 29 Apr. 2026
Four years later, the original concept has snowballed into a luxury hotel and working regenerative farm in the same model as South Africa’s Babylonstoren or Somerset’s The Newt, with grander plans still to come.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Apr. 2026
Then Yuki Matsui tweaked his groin in spring training, some soft contact snowballed on Adrián Morejón and Estrada began losing zip on his fastball.
—Jeff Sanders, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for snowballed
Verb
-
Ghirri’s oversize Polaroids, which increased the usual scale of his modest images to roughly tabloid size, were mounted on hefty support columns clad in coir, a jute-like material used for doormats, obviously intended to thwart any suggestion of monumentality.—
James Quandt,
Artforum,
2 June 2026
-
Local leaders in Greeley say demand for power has increased significantly in recent decades.—
Dillon Thomas,
CBS News,
2 June 2026
Verb
-
Lucas Mukasa / Anadolu via Getty Images Angry protests swelled Monday, including in the central town of Nanyuki, which is set to host the quarantine center.—
Mithil Aggarwal,
NBC news,
2 June 2026
-
As crowds outside the venue swelled, officials brought in an additional 200 law enforcement officers during the early afternoon.—
Sofia Baltodano,
Miami Herald,
29 May 2026
Verb
-
Guests arrive at breakfast in white linen shirts and silver Havanas and hang out by the pool drinking bottles of Provencal rose rather than piña coladas.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
2 June 2026
-
But her star rose and that joyful, beautiful, rather guileless young woman trying to stay cool in a hot city summer lives forever.—
Daniel D'Addario,
Variety,
1 June 2026
Verb
-
This trend accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 June 2026
-
New research suggests that both too little and too much sleep may be linked to accelerated biological aging.—
Brian Mastroianni,
Health,
2 June 2026
Verb
-
On Tuesday, Anthropic expanded the effort to include 150 organizations in more than 15 countries.—
Zev Fima,
CNBC,
4 June 2026
-
The word also figured heavily in the Alien and Sedition Acts, a set of four 18th century laws that restricted citizenship, expanded the president’s authority to detain and deport foreigners, and criminalized dissenting speech.—
Harmeet Kaur,
CNN Money,
3 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Snowballed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/snowballed. Accessed 8 Jun. 2026.
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