tipping point

noun

: the critical point in a situation, process, or system beyond which a significant and often unstoppable effect or change takes place

Examples of tipping point in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web With geopolitical tensions and climate change on the verge of a catastrophic tipping point, some are spending like there’s no tomorrow. Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 3 Feb. 2024 Our planet is reaching the tipping point of irreversible climate change if immediate action is not taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 28 Feb. 2024 The model required exceptional amounts of freshwater flow into the Atlantic in order to trigger the tipping point — a quantity equal to about seven Greenland ice sheets — according to Josh Willis, an oceanographer with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge. Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 26 Feb. 2024 There is a tipping point – that point when all the bad policies reach critical mass. Scott Wilk, Orange County Register, 4 Feb. 2024 What might be the tipping point in the spread of regional conflicts that could set off a global war? Dana Taylor, USA TODAY, 22 Jan. 2024 Those stresses in the most vulnerable parts of the rainforest could eventually drive the entire forest ecosystem past a tipping point that would trigger a forest-wide collapse, researchers said. Coral Davenport, New York Times, 17 Feb. 2024 The researchers predict that 10% to 47% of the Amazon will be exposed to stresses that could push the ecosystem to its tipping point, a critical threshold that once crossed will lead to a downward spiral of impacts. Rosa Rahimi, CNN, 14 Feb. 2024 With the streaming business at a tipping point, as Netflix pulls ahead of the pack and everyone else is scrambling to turn a profit, Paramount Global is betting that the single biggest TV event of the year, the Super Bowl, can help propel its streaming business over the metaphorical peak. Alex Weprin, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tipping point.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1959, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of tipping point was in 1959

Dictionary Entries Near tipping point

Cite this Entry

“Tipping point.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tipping%20point. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

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