flameout

1 of 2

noun

flame·​out ˈflām-ˌau̇t 

1

: the unintentional cessation of operation of a jet airplane engine

2

: a sudden downfall, failure, or cessation

3

: a person whose successful career ends abruptly

flame out

2 of 2

verb

flamed out; flaming out; flames out

intransitive verb

: to fail spectacularly and especially prematurely

Synonyms

Noun

• comedown
• decline
• dégringolade
• demise
• descent
• down
• downfall
• fall
• Götterdämmerung

Verb

• bomb
• collapse
• crater
• fail
• flop
• flunk
• fold
• founder
• miss
• strike out
• tank
• wash out

Examples of flameout in a Sentence

Noun

Fans were disappointed by the team's flameout in the play-offs.

before her sudden, self-inflicted flameout, she was one of the state's brightest political stars

Verb

even at the reception, some were predicting that the marriage would flame out before the fancy china ever got used

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The kick in the pants provided by NOS’s unwieldy sugar content hits the same way, with very little substance on the back end to prevent total flameout on the shoulder of the highway of life. —Pete Cottell, WIRED, 8 Aug. 2024

This is a succinct, rather depressing look at the spectacular rise and just-as-sudden flameout of MoviePass, the subscription service beloved by many cinephiles. —Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 31 July 2024

Verb

In a city where retail stores flame out quickly, Fred Segal for years was able to stay on top of the latest trends — and set many of them, thanks to its visionary founder. —Caroline Petrow-Cohen, Los Angeles Times, 3 Aug. 2024

Those Orioles flamed out and fell flat in the playoffs. —Jacob Calvin Meyer, Baltimore Sun, 31 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1950, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1951, in the meaning defined above