snowballing

verb

present participle of snowball
as in increasing
to become greater in extent, volume, amount, or number the little problems we ignored began to snowball into huge headaches

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 snowballing But efforts in the greater Charlotte area have been snowballing since last fall, with Cornelius overhauling its ordinance in November and Waxhaw and Davidson following suit in February. — Théoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 7 July 2026 Over the proceeding year and a half, snowballing AI hype has sent valuations in the space soaring to spectacular new heights. — Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 25 June 2026 But just as his mistakes were snowballing downhill, Willis rebounded from one pick and another dropped interception to make what was probably his best throw of the day. — David Furones, Sun Sentinel, 16 June 2026 The codebase becomes harder and harder to manage, so technical debt begins snowballing. — Sebastian Avila, Forbes.com, 5 Mar. 2026 The Mandelson revelations have dominated British media for days, snowballing into one of the country’s biggest political scandals this century. — Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 9 Feb. 2026 This kind of transparency builds safety and keeps small issues from snowballing into resentments. — Molly Burrets, CNBC, 29 Jan. 2026 But the problem began snowballing only late last month, when Grok seemingly granted a large number of user requests to modify images posted by others. — Arkansas Online, 27 Jan. 2026 The result, advocates and doctors say, is that babies with certain genetic diseases are diagnosed only after symptoms start snowballing. — Andrew Joseph, STAT, 27 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for snowballing
  1. increasing
  2. rising
  3. accelerating
  4. swelling
  5. expanding
Verb
  • Qantas said demand for international travel remained strong, with both Qantas and its low-cost carrier Jetstar increasing capacity and unit revenue, although higher fuel costs weighed on international earnings.
    — Jenny Lee, CNBC, 27 Aug. 2026
  • His foundation is aiming to spend $200 billion by 2045 with an increasing focus on AI.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of increasing
Verb
  • Global demand has also shrunk significantly with rising prices, helping to balance the oil market and get oil to the customers who need it.
    — David Goldman, CNN Money, 22 Aug. 2026
  • First, rising yields due to better nominal economic growth are typically tolerated more readily, since nominal GDP growth is a primary driver of corporate profits.
    — Bill Stone, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of rising
Verb
  • That would mean accelerating from Indonesia's roughly 5% decade-long growth average while keeping the deficit below its 3% statutory ceiling.
    — Celestine Iyer, CNBC, 26 Aug. 2026
  • For Kraft Heinz, that’s accelerating a shift already underway in Europe toward shorter ingredient lists, smaller portions, and more high-protein products.
    — Sam Birchall, Fortune, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of accelerating
Verb
  • The condition may have caused pain and produced a deformation or swelling on her chest.
    — Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2026
  • The main way to reduce the swelling deficit is to put an ice pack on it, economists said.
    — Medora Lee, USA Today, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of swelling
Verb
  • Satellite imagery has already spied an area of rising seas expanding north from South and Central America to California’s Baja Peninsula, with a northward expansion expected from there.
    — Andrew Freedman, CNN Money, 25 Aug. 2026
  • All six of his solo shows — Sleepwalk with Me, My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend, Thank God For Jokes, The New One, The Old Man & The Pool and The Good Life — have enjoyed successful runs on and off Broadway before expanding their audiences on Netflix.
    — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of expanding

Browse Nearby Words

snowballed
snowballing
snowballs
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Cite this Entry

“Snowballing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/snowballing. Accessed 27 Aug. 2026.

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