A Snowball Effect: Origin and Meaning

A situation in which something increases in size and importance at a faster and faster rate. This often refers to the quick growth of fame, fortune, importance or danger.

If you roll a small snowball down the side of a snowy hill, as it descends, it will collect more snow and therefore quickly grow in both size and speed. Therefore, when we describe a situation in which popularity, fame, publicity etc grows quickly, we say that this has happened due to a snowball effect.

“The more successful you become the more publicity you get and that publicity generates sales. It’s a sort of snowball effect”

“The city hopes that these improvements will have a snowball effect and encourage private investment in the community.”

“Once a singer becomes popular on YouTube, the record companies take more of an interest – soon a snowball effect is created and the singer’s music can be heard everywhere.”