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
  • Moon’s priorities for another term included expanding students’ access to mental health services, improving teacher recruitment and retention, and increasing career technical education opportunities.
    — Daniel Lempres, Sacbee.com, 4 Nov. 2026
  • Figma is increasing its focus on cybersecurity, said Dylan Field, Figma's co-founder and CEO.
    — Jordan Novet, CNBC, 4 Nov. 2026
Definition of increasing
Verb
  • White employment fell about 4%, while Asian employment remained roughly unchanged, rising about 1%.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 30 Oct. 2026
  • But over the past year, the company has seen its share price decline by approximately a third, largely due to rising costs.
    — Rob Wile, NBC news, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of rising
Verb
  • Progressives see the turmoil of the past two years as accelerating the emergence of a multipolar order, in which the United States has an important, but more limited, role to play.
    — THOMAS WRIGHT, Foreign Affairs, 3 Nov. 2026
  • Bone loss can start accelerating before the final menstrual period.
    — Priya Bhardwaj, The Conversation, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of accelerating
Verb
  • The swelling majorities, with some races still too early to call, underlined a deep sense of voter anger and concern over the economy and the state of democracy.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 5 Nov. 2026
  • The sophomore missed his fourth consecutive game with a right knee injury after suffering a setback during last Wednesday’s practice caused swelling and led trainers to drain fluid from the joint.
    — Edgar Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of swelling
Verb
  • Those options reportedly include tighter economic sanctions and expanding restrictions on Iranian trade.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 3 Nov. 2026
  • At a hearing last week, as Assembly committee discussed measures including eliminating the $750 million cap, allowing above-the-line expenses, expanding eligibility, and extending the sunset date.
    — Gene Maddaus, Variety, 2 Nov. 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 6 Nov. 2026.

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