as in collapsed
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 boomeranged
Those lower judges eventually rejected his arguments, and Reed boomeranged back to the justices.
—
Ella Lee, The Hill, 25 Mar. 2026
The wild part is how quickly that creator theme boomeranged back at us in real time.
—Dana Harris-Bridson, IndieWire, 16 Dec. 2025
The most blatant of those on Sunday was Kelce converting a great opportunity into a play that boomeranged the other way.
—Kansas City Star, 15 Sep. 2025
Ella Lee, The Hill, 25 Mar. 2026
The wild part is how quickly that creator theme boomeranged back at us in real time.
—Dana Harris-Bridson, IndieWire, 16 Dec. 2025
The most blatant of those on Sunday was Kelce converting a great opportunity into a play that boomeranged the other way.
—Kansas City Star, 15 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for boomeranged
Verb
-
The brief, failed ouster of Altman in 2023 almost collapsed the ChatGPT maker, with investors pressing the board to bring back Altman and employees pledging to quit en masse if the CEO wasn’t reinstated.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
27 Apr. 2026
-
Over the past 50 years, the average size of wildlife populations has collapsed by 73% owing to nature loss and climate change.—
Tristan Bove,
Fortune,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Under Cook, the company has become less surprising but massively financially successful; some of Apple’s newer products have flopped or underperformed, but far more have become and stayed excellent thanks to years of competent iteration.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
24 Apr. 2026
-
Cuomo’s podcast and mayoral bid flopped.—
Jon Allsop,
New Yorker,
15 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The move appears to have backfired, spurring voters in California and, last week, Virginia to redraw their state’s political maps to more than offset Texas and boost Democrats in November.—
Mark Barabak,
Mercury News,
1 May 2026
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Left Arrow Right Arrow Another candid confession from Jerry O’Connell backfired fast as critics seized on the actor’s remarks about his teenage daughters’ partying and vaping habits.—
Lauryn Overhultz,
FOXNews.com,
1 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Boomeranged.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/boomeranged. Accessed 3 May. 2026.
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