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

Relevance

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
  • But the company’s stock has gone nowhere over the past two years, as Instacart struggled to find new paths to growth while facing increasing competition from Amazon and Walmart’s grocery-delivery offerings.
    — Rob Wile, NBC news, 29 Oct. 2026
  • For a while, the music hangs there, pieces echoing each other with increasing intensity.
    — Vanessa Ague, Pitchfork, 29 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
  • The drug is designed to target a part of the inflammatory response that contributes to developing lymphedema, potentially helping reduce swelling and improve quality of life.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 28 Oct. 2026
  • The team said Tuesday morning that two-time defensive player of the year Kawhi Leonard will be re-evaluated in a week due to swelling in his left knee.
    — Jason Beede, The Orlando Sentinel, 27 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
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Snowballing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/snowballing. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of shindig

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Pwn, Skibidi, Girlboss and Other Words Added to the 2026 Scrabble Dictionary

The Words of the Week - Oct. 30

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All