"cobra effect" meaning in English

See cobra effect in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˌkəʊbɹə ɪˈfɛkt/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˌkɒ-/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˌkoʊbɹə ɪˈfɛk(t)/ [General-American], /-əˈfɛk(t)/ [General-American] (note: weak vowel merger), /-iˈfɛk(t)/ [General-American] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-cobra effect.wav Forms: cobra effects [plural]
Rhymes: -ɛkt Etymology: PIE word *h₁eǵʰs From cobra + effect, a calque of German Kobra-Effekt, coined by the German economist Horst Siebert (1938–2009) in a 2001 book, from an anecdote about an incident during the British rule of colonial India in the 19th century in which the government, concerned about the large number of venomous cobras in Delhi, offered a bounty for each dead cobra turned in, which eventually led to enterprising people breeding more cobras for the income. When the government discontinued the programme the breeders set their cobras free, which led to an increase in the cobra population. Etymology templates: {{PIE word|en|h₁eǵʰs}} PIE word *h₁eǵʰs, {{root|en|ine-pro|*dʰeh₁-}}, {{compound|en|cobra|effect|notext=1|type=exocentric}} cobra + effect, {{calque|en|de|Kobra-Effekt|nocap=1}} calque of German Kobra-Effekt, {{coinage|de|Horst Siebert|nat=the German|nobycat=1|nocap=1|nocat=1|occ=economist}} coined by the German economist Horst Siebert Head templates: {{en-noun}} cobra effect (plural cobra effects)
  1. The phenomenon where an attempted solution to a problem has an unintended consequence that makes the original problem worse. Related terms: law of unintended consequences Translations (phenomenon where an attempted solution to a problem has an unintended consequence that makes the original problem worse): kobra-effek (Afrikaans), kobra-ilmiö (Finnish), Kobra-Effekt [masculine] (German), コブラ効果 (kobura kōka) (alt: コブラこうか) (Japanese), 코브라 효과 (kobeura hyogwa) (Korean)

Inflected forms

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          "ref": "2014, Stefan Kühl, “Unwilling Recipients of Spoon-feeding”, in Tino Brömme, Harriet Bailey, Annika Henderson, Lesley Warren, transl., The Sudoku Effect: Universities in the Vicious Circle of Bureaucracy (Springer Briefs in Education), Cham, Zug, Switzerland; Heidelberg, Baden-Wüttermberg: Springer, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 47:",
          "text": "The so-called ‘Cobra effect’ is one typical example of a side-effect that, when contrasted with the original intention, can be judged negatively. […] Even more problematically, the case can be made that just like with the ‘Cobra effect’, spoon-fed teaching methods stem from the initiatives of those who propagated the introduction of credit points and modules under the umbrella of ‘student-oriented’ learning. And it is every possible that they are not even aware of having caused more head-on teaching, a greater number of standardised exams and a reduction in choices.",
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          "text": "In fact, good intentions often lead to what are known as cobra effects, because people with the noblest intentions are often blinded by feelings of self-righteousness and do not consider the complex and often malevolent motivations of others.",
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          "text": "An existentialist, critical victimology of genocide may then be achieved, unfolding cobra-effects of genocide laws and regulations in which the very legal tools and bodies that define a genocide and its perpetrating governments allow for other governments to get away with genocidal violence; it leaves behind hidden genocide victimhood (primary victimisation) and thus unacknowledged victimhood (secondary victimisation).",
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          "word": "kobra-effek"
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          "word": "コブラ効果"
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          "text": "The so-called ‘Cobra effect’ is one typical example of a side-effect that, when contrasted with the original intention, can be judged negatively. […] Even more problematically, the case can be made that just like with the ‘Cobra effect’, spoon-fed teaching methods stem from the initiatives of those who propagated the introduction of credit points and modules under the umbrella of ‘student-oriented’ learning. And it is every possible that they are not even aware of having caused more head-on teaching, a greater number of standardised exams and a reduction in choices.",
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          "text": "In fact, good intentions often lead to what are known as cobra effects, because people with the noblest intentions are often blinded by feelings of self-righteousness and do not consider the complex and often malevolent motivations of others.",
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          "text": "An existentialist, critical victimology of genocide may then be achieved, unfolding cobra-effects of genocide laws and regulations in which the very legal tools and bodies that define a genocide and its perpetrating governments allow for other governments to get away with genocidal violence; it leaves behind hidden genocide victimhood (primary victimisation) and thus unacknowledged victimhood (secondary victimisation).",
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    {
      "code": "af",
      "lang": "Afrikaans",
      "sense": "phenomenon where an attempted solution to a problem has an unintended consequence that makes the original problem worse",
      "word": "kobra-effek"
    },
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      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "phenomenon where an attempted solution to a problem has an unintended consequence that makes the original problem worse",
      "word": "kobra-ilmiö"
    },
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      "sense": "phenomenon where an attempted solution to a problem has an unintended consequence that makes the original problem worse",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Kobra-Effekt"
    },
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      "sense": "phenomenon where an attempted solution to a problem has an unintended consequence that makes the original problem worse",
      "word": "コブラ効果"
    },
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      "code": "ko",
      "lang": "Korean",
      "roman": "kobeura hyogwa",
      "sense": "phenomenon where an attempted solution to a problem has an unintended consequence that makes the original problem worse",
      "word": "코브라 효과"
    }
  ],
  "word": "cobra effect"
}

Download raw JSONL data for cobra effect meaning in English (7.2kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-02-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-02-21 using wiktextract (ce0be54 and f2e72e5). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.