Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
circular firing squad

circular firing squad

2 8.8
A situation where group members blame or attack each other and harm the group's chances
  • noun
  • Literature
translation icon : fuego amigo
  • Without it, the community will devolve into disjointed communities prone to circular firing squads.
  • form a circular firing squad

Examples

  • Rob talked about the Republicans forming a circular firing squad.

    Blog text (27)

  • As I feared, this is turning into a circular firing squad.

    Blog text (15)

  • It would be foolish for conservatives, defeated for now, to form a circular firing squad and start shooting at each other.

    Blog text (25)

  • When one's party loses a major national election, the next thing one must do is strive to be a survivor of the circular firing squad that follows.

    Blog text (23)

  • Another example of Republican proficiency in using the circular firing squad to punish political incorrectness.

    Blog text (12)

  • The team's constant bickering has turned it into a circular firing squad, with everyone blaming each other for their failures.

  • Instead of collaborating, their project has become a circular firing squad, where each member criticizes the others instead of finding solutions.

  • In the meeting, it quickly devolved into a circular firing squad, as each member criticized the decisions of their peers.

Synonyms

infighting
vscircular firing squad
26 6.0

Conflict between people in the same group that is often hidden

is internal mutual harm that prevents members cooperating against outside challenges
blame game
vscircular firing squad
  • Informal
17 4.8

People or groups say others caused a problem to avoid taking responsibility

uses blame as mutual attack that also weakens collective response to problems
factionalism
vscircular firing squad
2 8.8

Small groups inside a larger group compete and disagree, causing conflict

is interpersonal mutual undermining that directly prevents cooperation against shared problems

Antonyms

cooperation
443 2.5

Working together with other people to reach a common goal

teamwork
89 1.8

People working together and helping each other to reach a common goal

Surface Forms

circular firing squad singular
circular firing squads plural

Morphology

circular + firing + squad

The phrase literally combines 'circular' + 'firing' + 'squad' to evoke an image of a team arranged in a circle shooting inward, which gives a clear cue that members are harming one another. However, the use is metaphorical (referring to mutual criticism/undermining rather than literal shooting), so the full pragmatic sense may not be fully predictable to a B1 learner without some exposure.

Etymology

Circular firing squad comes from the image of soldiers in a circle: a squad firing inward so they end up hitting each other. So it now means a group 'harming or blaming each other' instead of working together.