2
a
: a mental collapse : nervous breakdown
his wife's death brought on his crack-up
cracked up; cracking up; cracks up
1
: praise, tout sense 1
wasn't all that it was cracked up to be
2
: to damage or destroy (a vehicle) by crashing
crack up a car
3
: to cause to laugh out loud
that joke really cracks him up
1
: to damage or destroy a vehicle (as by losing control)
cracked up on a curve
2
: to laugh out loud
Examples of crack-up in a Sentence
Noun
a crack-up required him to take a year off from work
two people were injured in a serious crack-up on the interstate
Verb
that sports car isn't all it's cracked up to be
the movie is being cracked up as the blockbuster of the summer
Recent Examples on the Web
Michael Bernick, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025
Despite the book’s title, Buchanan had some hope for the West (in his us-and-them sense of the term) and was confident in globalism’s impending crack-up.
—Michael Kimmage, Foreign Affairs, 25 Feb. 2025
EW.com, 22 Aug. 2025
Cracker Barrel has changed its logo for the first time in 48 years—and people are cracking up about it online.
—Marni Rose McFall, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for crack-up
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Noun
For job seekers and their families and friends, navigating this white collar crack-up can no longer mean looking to the federal or state government for a new government program, department, or benefit.
—Michael Bernick, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025
Despite the book’s title, Buchanan had some hope for the West (in his us-and-them sense of the term) and was confident in globalism’s impending crack-up.
—Michael Kimmage, Foreign Affairs, 25 Feb. 2025
Verb
Apa and Cline are both cracking up now as Apa drops one more bomb.
—EW.com, 22 Aug. 2025
Cracker Barrel has changed its logo for the first time in 48 years—and people are cracking up about it online.
—Marni Rose McFall, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for crack-up
Cite this Entry
“Crack-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crack-up. Accessed 8 Sep. 2025.
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