as in collapsing
to have the reverse of the desired or expected effect
the well-meaning gesture boomeranged, since he ended up being offended by it
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Recent Examples of boomeranging
The idea of Miami boomeranging from 7-10 to make the playoffs next year and maybe even end that playoff-victory drought is not be crazy.
—
Greg Cote
january 26, Miami Herald, 26 Jan. 2026
Greg Cote
january 26, Miami Herald, 26 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for boomeranging
Verb
-
Set in a collapsing Caracas, the film follows a woman who returns home after her mother’s funeral to find her apartment taken over by an armed militia.—
Adam Bell
April 2,
Charlotte Observer,
2 Apr. 2026
-
The industry was at risk of collapsing—until the physical chemist Fritz Haber, at the behest of the German Supreme Command, managed to take a common by-product of dye manufacture and weaponize it.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
2 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Girlfriend scales the diaristic, bric-a-brac charm of Janky Star into a high-drama pop monument to trying, flopping, and trying even harder next time.—
Hattie Lindert,
Pitchfork,
20 Mar. 2026
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Cutting stems back by one-third their height will help plants resist flopping under the weight of the flowers.—
Megan Hughes,
Better Homes & Gardens,
14 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Maura Healey, posing with a powerful weapon in her hands, joins a long list of pols whose political pandering to hunters and gun owners could end up backfiring.—
Joe Battenfeld,
Boston Herald,
21 Mar. 2026
-
But, more than that, there’s a danger for the governor of this advertising campaign backfiring.—
Larry Wilson,
Oc Register,
14 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Boomeranging.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/boomeranging. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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