powder keg

noun

1

: a small usually metal cask for holding gunpowder or blasting powder

2

: something liable to explode

Synonyms of powder keg

• volcano

Examples of powder keg in a Sentence

Political instability has made the region a powder keg.

the immigration bill has become a political powder keg for legislators on both sides of the aisle

Recent Examples on the Web

However, internal conflict between the brash younger generation and the old-school leadership threatens to set a match to this powder keg, which will sweep the Westies into the FBI’s ever-deepening investigation into the Italian mafia. —Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 17 June 2026

The scene isn’t just a powder keg of tension that leads to frenzied bedlam; its cynical depiction of human self-preservation is far more terrifying than any horror movie monster. —Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 15 June 2026

Ferreira is the lone outsider, a friend of the youngest son, Johnny, who gets thrown into a powder keg of a holiday. —Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 15 Apr. 2026

Of course, the wedding turns into a powder keg of secrets, and the orderly proceedings blow up in the protagonists’ faces and leave a trail of emotional and physical pain. —Richard Brody, New Yorker, 7 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1791, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for powder keg

• beg
• clegg
• egg
• leg
• legg
• meg
• neg
• peg
• reg
• blackleg
• bootleg
• foreleg