backfire
Example Sentences
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But similar reprisals against high-level officials close to the Kremlin could backfire and arouse even more elite discontent.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
But there’s no way this could possibly backfire, right?
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
“Law enforcement has good intentions but they sometimes backfire with unintended consequences. Often, the more laws you create to prevent people from having a reptile, the more they want them. But sometimes prohibition does work.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Estate planning can backfire for those who get overwhelmed.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 25, 2026
And anyhow, I thought, tattling to his mom would probably backfire.
From "Maybe He Just Likes You" by Barbara Dee
The company has long relied on this high-yielding equity as its primary engine to bankroll Bitcoin acquisitions—a strategy that backfires when the shares lose ground.
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
All of the above comes with a caveat: Unbridled choice often backfires.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
Is there a chance this really backfires, then?
From Slate ● Jan. 13, 2026
The programme describes it as a hero's plot for peace that backfires with drastic consequences.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2025
The car behind me at the drive-thru backfires, and I rush inside.
From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy
But a police crackdown on crowds marching towards parliament on July 20 backfired, galvanising support for the movement and transforming anger over exam leaks into a broader expression of youth frustration.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
For much of the past year, the company has attempted to move on after efforts to modernize the chain backfired.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
The chain has experienced other problems as well, including remodels that backfired, agitation among activist investors and same-store sales that have wobbled over Masino’s three-year tenure.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
But critics claim the intended effects have backfired, instead stifling sales and slowing apartment construction by disincentivizing developers to build, as the tax eats into their profit margins.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
I tried to use my powers to get something I wanted, and it really backfired.
From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila
But I also feel like there’s a huge risk of that backfiring.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
Still, one of O’Leary’s targets in Utah said the Chinese allegations are already backfiring.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
Nestlé tweaked its portfolio, but investors say some acquisitions were a distraction, backfiring as the company expanded into non-core areas.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
China's approach to urging people to have children also risks backfiring if people feel the government is being "too intrusive" about what is deeply personal choice, she said.
From BBC ● Dec. 31, 2025
“I mean, because of what happened in the rebellion. With the jabberjays backfiring on the Capitol and all.”
From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
Vocabulary lists containing backfire
"Diary of a Wimpy Kid" by Jeff Kinney
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"Laws are not the only way to boost immunization”: an editorial from Nature
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Catching Fire
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