crisis

noun cri·sis \ ˈkrī-səs \

|Updated on: 20 Jul 2018

Tip: Synonym Guide

Examples: crisis in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Semantic crisis Intervention

Definition of crisis

plural crises play \ˈkrī-ˌsēz\

1 a : the turning point for better or worse in an acute disease or fever

b : a paroxysmal attack of pain, distress, or disordered function

c : an emotionally significant event or radical change of status in a person's life

a midlife crisis

2 : the decisive moment (as in a literary plot)

The crisis of the play occurs in Act 3.

3 a : an unstable or crucial time or state of affairs in which a decisive change is impending; especially : one with the distinct possibility of a highly undesirable outcome

a financial crisis

the nation's energy crisis

b : a situation that has reached a critical phase

the environmental crisis

the unemployment crisis

See crisis defined for English-language learners

See crisis defined for kids

Examples of crisis in a Sentence

She was dealing with a family crisis at the time.
Most people blame the government for the country's worsening economic crisis.
last year's state budget crisis
In times of national crisis, we need strong leaders we can trust.
A year ago, both companies were in crisis.

Recent Examples of crisis from the Web

Now it’s reaching a crisis point on the Friant-Kern, and California voters are being asked to fix it.

— dale kasler and phillip reese, sacbee, "The Valley floor is sinking, and it’s crippling California’s ability to deliver water," 13 July 2018
Tesla needs someone with experience managing a big industrial company through crisis and preparing it for dramatic change.

— john d. stoll, WSJ, "Tesla’s Musk Needs to Find His Mary Barra," 13 July 2018
Johansson’s messaging around this media crisis has been an interesting story itself.

— josephine livingstone, The New Republic, "Scarlett Johansson won’t play a trans man after all.," 13 July 2018
In the near future, the world is suffering from an extreme infertility crisis and facing population depletion, and a group of extremists calling themselves the Sons of Jacob uses this to seize power and institute a strictly stratified regime.

— alissa wilkinson, Vox, "What two fictional Gileads can teach us about America in 2018," 12 July 2018
With that in mind, a player and his agent should have plans in place to deal with the possibility of an unexpected public relations crisis prior to the draft.

— michael mccann, SI.com, "Could Gareon Conley Legally Prove That Rape Allegation Caused Draft Slide, Financial Harm?," 12 July 2018
Image For the residents in Kew Gardens, Queens, their neighborhood’s three-decades-long existential crisis is coming to an end.

— sarah maslin nir, New York Times, "A Bridge, the Rickety Heart of Kew Gardens, Gets a Reprieve," 12 July 2018
Kucera compared last year’s tax bill to a car crash that resulted from lawmakers overcorrecting in the face of the state’s budget crisis.

— bryan lowry, kansascity, "Kobach and Colyer trade barbs — and boos— at heated Johnson County GOP debate," 12 July 2018
In Spain’s property and banking crisis in 2008, an official points out, internationally diversified Santander and BBVA fared far better than purely domestic lenders.

— The Economist, "Why the euro zone hasn’t seen more cross-border bank mergers," 12 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'crisis.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Semantic crisis Intervention

Some people are bothered by changes in a word’s meaning (see: literally), while others have a more relaxed attitude towards semantic drift. For those who feel vexed when a word seems to have suddenly changed its spots, it may be of some comfort to know that words in English do this all the time; crisis is a fine example. Originally, crisis denoted “the turning point for better or worse in an acute disease or fever.” Now it most commonly means “a difficult or dangerous situation that needs serious attention,” yet few people insist that it should be used exclusively in its older meaning. The normality of semantic change can be seen in another word that first appeared in febrile contexts: hectic, which now is primarily used to mean “very busy,” originally referred to a fever that was fluctuating but recurrent.

Origin and Etymology of crisis

Middle English crise, crisis, borrowed from Latin crisis "judgment, critical stage," borrowed from Greek krísis "act of separating, decision, judgment, event, outcome, turning point, sudden change," from kri-, variant stem of krī́nein "to separate, choose, decide, judge" + -sis, suffix forming nouns of action or process — more at ¹certain

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

crisis Synonyms

Synonyms

boiling point, breaking point, clutch, conjuncture, crossroad(s), crunch, emergency, exigency, extremity, flash point, head, juncture, tinderbox, zero hour;

Related Words

contingency, possibility;

climax, turning point;

happening, landmark, milestone;

condition, pass, situation, strait;

deadlock, impasse, stalemate;

corner, fix, hole, hot water, jam, last ditch, pinch, predicament, scrape, spot;

eleventh hour, last minute;

Phrases

moment of truth, point of no return;

Synonym Discussion of crisis

juncture, exigency, emergency, contingency, pinch, strait (or straits) crisis mean a critical or crucial time or state of affairs. juncture stresses the significant concurrence or convergence of events.

- an important juncture in our country's history

exigency stresses the pressure of restrictions or urgency of demands created by a special situation.

- provide for exigencies

emergency applies to a sudden unforeseen situation requiring prompt action to avoid disaster.

- the presence of mind needed to deal with emergencies

contingency implies an emergency or exigency that is regarded as possible but uncertain of occurrence.

- contingency plans

pinch implies urgency or pressure for action to a less intense degree than exigency or emergency.

- come through in a pinch

strait, now commonly straits, applies to a troublesome situation from which escape is extremely difficult.

- in dire straits

crisis applies to a juncture whose outcome will make a decisive difference.

- a crisis of confidence

CRISIS Defined for English Language Learners

crisis

noun

Definition of crisis for English Language Learners

: a difficult or dangerous situation that needs serious attention

CRISIS Defined for Kids

crisis

noun cri·sis \ ˈkrī-səs \

Definition of crisis for Students

plural crises \ˈkrī-ˌsēz\

: a difficult or dangerous situation that needs serious attention

a medical crisis

Medical Dictionary

crisis

noun cri·sis \ ˈkrī-səs \

medical Definition of crisis

plural crises play \-ˌsēz\

1 : the turning point for better or worse in an acute disease or fever; especially : a sudden turn for the better (as sudden abatement in severity of symptoms or abrupt drop in temperature) — compare lysis 1

2 : a paroxysmal attack of pain, distress, or disordered function

tabetic crisis

cardiac crisis

3 : an emotionally significant event or radical change of status in a person's life

4 : a psychological or social condition characterized by unusual instability caused by excessive stress and either endangering or felt to endanger the continuity of an individual or group; especially : such a social condition requiring the transformation of cultural patterns and values