perfect storm

noun

: a critical or disastrous situation created by a powerful concurrence of factors

Examples of perfect storm in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The movie, written by Joanna Murray-Smith (who based the screenplay on her play Switzerland) and directed by Anton Corbijn, sounds like a perfect storm. — John Ross, Vanity Fair, 10 Sep. 2026

The new Ground Zero for fraud is in California, where a perfect storm of bad government has formed in the last few years. — John Fund, Oc Register, 8 Sep. 2026

But now the island’s cigar industry is facing a perfect storm of existential challenges. — Chas Newkey-Burden, TheWeek, 28 Aug. 2026

From one vantage, Kardashian’s path to global superstardom was borne by a perfect storm of time, place, person, and opportunity—a convergence of the smartphone, social media, reality TV, and the changing conception of what constitutes a celebrity. — Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1998, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for perfect storm

• chloroform
• coliform
• cribriform
• cruciform
• filiform
• fusiform
• isoform
• microform
• multiform
• outperform
• piriform
• plexiform