as in collapses
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 boomerangs
Finding a way to bring value to others always boomerangs in some way.
—
Victoria Thomas, Rolling Stone, 21 Nov. 2025
Victoria Thomas, Rolling Stone, 21 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for boomerangs
Verb
-
That collapses the distinction the GENIUS Act drafters wrote into the statute.—
Zennon Kapron,
Forbes.com,
20 May 2026
-
Health care collapses without us.—
Taijuan Moorman,
USA Today,
18 May 2026
Verb
-
Joel Embiid is a great player, one of the best bigs in f—ing basketball history, flops.—
Devon Henderson,
New York Times,
4 May 2026
-
One of the best bigs in [expletive] basketball history flops.—
Matt Schooley,
CBS News,
4 May 2026
Verb
-
The acting attorney general's attempt to answer those questions backfires.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
24 May 2026
-
Alcohol as a sleep aid backfires by reducing REM sleep and worsening overall sleep quality.—
Allison Palmer,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
16 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Boomerangs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/boomerangs. Accessed 26 May. 2026.
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