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
  • Beyond domestic challenges, CATL is also scrambling to build more plants in Europe to avoid running afoul of increasing EU protectionism.
    — Brendan Ruberry, semafor.com, 21 Oct. 2026
  • While the disease remains more common among women over 50, diagnoses among younger women are increasing, prompting cancer specialists to encourage earlier conversations about individual risk.
    — Melissa May, CBS News, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of increasing
Verb
  • Fighting autocracy and inequality The Ford Foundation frames its new plan as its answer to rising autocracy, widening inequality, and fading public trust.
    — Sydney Lake, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2026
  • This was in 2024 and 2025, when the AI craze was in full swing and Claude and ChatGPT adoption was rising.
    — Brian Jenney, IEEE Spectrum, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of rising
Verb
  • With Russia's accelerating orbital forays, the clock appears to be ticking.
    — Tereza Pultarova, Space.com, 27 Oct. 2026
  • The Assisi gathering came as the Vatican is accelerating its humanitarian efforts for Ukraine following the entry into effect of a localized cease-fire in the devastated southern Ukrainian city of Oleshky.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of accelerating
Verb
  • City Hall’s budget keeps swelling — as do the taxes needed to support it.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Engineers trying to support swelling AI workloads, video streaming, and cloud services often add thicker cables with more fiber pairs.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of swelling
Verb
  • The four countries agreed Monday to continue talks on expanding cooperation among them, particularly about regional peace and security, a statement said.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Some brands are expanding their use of advance material and capacity commitments, while delaying final decisions on color, SKU quantities or market allocation.
    — Jessica Binns, Vogue, 26 Oct. 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 29 Oct. 2026.

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