as in increased
to become greater in extent, volume, amount, or number
the little problems we ignored began to snowball into huge headaches
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Recent Examples of snowballed
Hours later, the scandal snowballed after Bloomberg published a trove of emails between Mandelson and Epstein, in which Mandelson expressed support for his friend and offered to discuss his infamous 2008 Florida case with his political contacts.
—
Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 11 Sep. 2025
What started as a shoestring campus operation snowballed into a right-wing powerhouse.
—Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 11 Sep. 2025
What began in January with an executive order mandating federal workers to return in-person has snowballed, with firms from Amazon to JP Morgan following suit.
—Eric Twardzik, Robb Report, 8 Sep. 2025
Other discipline errors snowballed after that.
—Jesse Newell, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2025
The tentative reunion quickly snowballed into a full tour and, now, Sublime’s first new music in nearly 30 years.
—Jordan Runtagh, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2025
The ongoing comparison of the two turned into an internet frenzy that snowballed into lyrical jabs and shade across interviews and social media.
—Amber Corrine, VIBE.com, 4 Sep. 2025
But since Florida made private school vouchers available to all families regardless of income in 2023, the state budget for vouchers has snowballed from $1 billion to $4 billion.
—Miami Herald, 26 Aug. 2025
The sentiment quickly snowballed as Reddit threads ballooned with grief and X timelines filled with complaints, leading OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to hold an emergency Reddit Ask Me Anything.
—Victor Dey, Forbes.com, 14 Aug. 2025
Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 11 Sep. 2025
What started as a shoestring campus operation snowballed into a right-wing powerhouse.
—Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 11 Sep. 2025
What began in January with an executive order mandating federal workers to return in-person has snowballed, with firms from Amazon to JP Morgan following suit.
—Eric Twardzik, Robb Report, 8 Sep. 2025
Other discipline errors snowballed after that.
—Jesse Newell, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2025
The tentative reunion quickly snowballed into a full tour and, now, Sublime’s first new music in nearly 30 years.
—Jordan Runtagh, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2025
The ongoing comparison of the two turned into an internet frenzy that snowballed into lyrical jabs and shade across interviews and social media.
—Amber Corrine, VIBE.com, 4 Sep. 2025
But since Florida made private school vouchers available to all families regardless of income in 2023, the state budget for vouchers has snowballed from $1 billion to $4 billion.
—Miami Herald, 26 Aug. 2025
The sentiment quickly snowballed as Reddit threads ballooned with grief and X timelines filled with complaints, leading OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to hold an emergency Reddit Ask Me Anything.
—Victor Dey, Forbes.com, 14 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for snowballed
Verb
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That Carroll took such umbrage only increased Harbaugh’s smile, making for a better story.—
Jay Paris,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
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Plenty of timepiece brands increased their prices, too, in response to those initial tariff figures back in April, according to Hodinkee.—
Nicole Hoey,
Robb Report,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
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As guests swelled outside the dining room, Chow and Osbourne led the lively room in a toast to New York and invitation to continue on to the comedy show.—
Kristen Tauer,
Footwear News,
13 Sep. 2025
-
South Korea’s top diplomat then rushed to Washington to negotiate their release, while public fury swelled back home over what many see as a slap in the face from their longtime ally.—
Alexandra Banner,
CNN Money,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Despite a curfew announced by authorities, anger erupted as the death toll rose.—
Shambhavi Rimal,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
10 Sep. 2025
-
The share of respondents indicating that foreign and local companies were treated equally rose by 5 percentage points to 37%.—
Evelyn Cheng,
CNBC,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The Roots Of The 70-Hour Workweek The 996 work culture originated in China's tech and manufacturing sectors in the early 2010s, becoming widespread as the country's rapid economic growth accelerated through the mid-2010s.—
Caroline Castrillon,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
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The introduction of name, image and likeness money and unlimited transfers has accelerated player movement at an unprecedented rate and lowered the ceiling at the top of the sport.—
Chris Vannini,
New York Times,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
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By 2019, Kirk expanded into electoral politics with Turning Point Action, a 501(c)(4) that allowed his network to directly campaign for Republicans.—
Samantha-Jo Roth,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Sep. 2025
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Cadence has expanded this technology beyond chip design towards creating digital twins of data centers including all the functional components.—
Thomas Coughlin,
Forbes.com,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Robinson then allegedly climbed over a short wall and onto the roof, according to the document.—
Rick Jervis,
USA Today,
14 Sep. 2025
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Last year, the unemployment rate climbed quickly in a short period and there was similar criticism that the central bank was too late to lower rates.—
Bryan Mena,
CNN Money,
14 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Snowballed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/snowballed. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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