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
flamed out; flaming out; flames out
: to fail spectacularly and especially prematurely
Synonyms
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
Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 20 Sep. 2023
During the flameout of the clean tech boom in the early 2000s, plenty of investors got burned.
—Lee Clifford, Fortune, 22 Aug. 2023
Their offseason moves reflected that, with a free agency spending spree intended to bolster a flawed roster that got exposed in the first-round flameout.
—Chris Fedor, cleveland, 18 Aug. 2023
The seismic flameout of FTX—once valued at $32 billion, the company filed for bankruptcy and faces Securities and Exchange Commission and Justice Department investigations—helps deflate one of the startup world’s great myths: the underdressed genius founder.
—Jacob Gallagher, WSJ, 22 Nov. 2022
Fowler also slipped with a bogey, the beginning of a flameout for a player who on Thursday shot a 62, a single-round record for an Open.
—Alan Blinder, New York Times, 19 June 2023
For many years, Ryan Leaf didn't feel comfortable standing up for himself, given his famous NFL flameout and legal troubles.
—Scott Horner, The Indianapolis Star, 24 Apr. 2023
Based on 95 responses, here are the 14 most essential L.A. memoirs and biographies, from Hollywood tell-alls to immigrant sagas, hard lives (Luis J. Rodriguez) and spectacular flameouts (Freeway Rick Ross).
—Boris Kachka, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2023
Purdue started 22-1 but a pretty mediocre February combined with some previous March flameouts under Matt Painter make the Boilermakers a difficult team to trust.
—Dan Wolken, USA TODAY, 13 Mar. 2023
Jacob Calvin Meyer, Baltimore Sun, 9 Aug. 2023
That translated to a $13 billion loss for Musk on top of the $3 billion that had flamed out on the space launch.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 27 Apr. 2023
He was followed by several others who burned brightly and then flamed out, most notably Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.
—Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 1 Sep. 2023
Toro moved back to Madrid after flaming out in New York and has taken a job with Juan at his father’s shady real-estate firm.
—Vulture, 1 Aug. 2023
The growing regulatory crackdown is rattling crypto investors, who remain shaken by the implosion late last year of FTX, a rising star that flamed out spectacularly and is now the subject of a massive federal fraud investigation.
—Allison Morrow, CNN, 6 June 2023
Rappers flame out as if gunned down in one of their own cop-killer fantasies.
—Bob Guccione Jr, Spin, 21 Aug. 2023
Simmons eventually became an All-Star before flaming out in Rivers’s first year and getting traded to Brooklyn for the mercurial Harden, who reached an NBA Finals 11 years ago in Oklahoma City but hasn’t been since.
—Adam Himmelsbach, BostonGlobe.com, 14 May 2023
Last year, as the No. 2 seed, Greenway flamed out early, stunned twice by No. 7 seed Mingus Union.
—Theo MacKie, The Arizona Republic, 11 May 2023
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Noun
The circumstances around the Bally Sports flameout were exacerbated by heavy debt taken on by its parent company, Diamond Sports.
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 20 Sep. 2023
During the flameout of the clean tech boom in the early 2000s, plenty of investors got burned.
—Lee Clifford, Fortune, 22 Aug. 2023
Their offseason moves reflected that, with a free agency spending spree intended to bolster a flawed roster that got exposed in the first-round flameout.
—Chris Fedor, cleveland, 18 Aug. 2023
The seismic flameout of FTX—once valued at $32 billion, the company filed for bankruptcy and faces Securities and Exchange Commission and Justice Department investigations—helps deflate one of the startup world’s great myths: the underdressed genius founder.
—Jacob Gallagher, WSJ, 22 Nov. 2022
Fowler also slipped with a bogey, the beginning of a flameout for a player who on Thursday shot a 62, a single-round record for an Open.
—Alan Blinder, New York Times, 19 June 2023
For many years, Ryan Leaf didn't feel comfortable standing up for himself, given his famous NFL flameout and legal troubles.
—Scott Horner, The Indianapolis Star, 24 Apr. 2023
Based on 95 responses, here are the 14 most essential L.A. memoirs and biographies, from Hollywood tell-alls to immigrant sagas, hard lives (Luis J. Rodriguez) and spectacular flameouts (Freeway Rick Ross).
—Boris Kachka, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2023
Purdue started 22-1 but a pretty mediocre February combined with some previous March flameouts under Matt Painter make the Boilermakers a difficult team to trust.
—Dan Wolken, USA TODAY, 13 Mar. 2023
Verb
The veteran was signed in late May after flaming out with the New York Yankees to fill in for the injured Mullins.
—Jacob Calvin Meyer, Baltimore Sun, 9 Aug. 2023
That translated to a $13 billion loss for Musk on top of the $3 billion that had flamed out on the space launch.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 27 Apr. 2023
He was followed by several others who burned brightly and then flamed out, most notably Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.
—Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 1 Sep. 2023
Toro moved back to Madrid after flaming out in New York and has taken a job with Juan at his father’s shady real-estate firm.
—Vulture, 1 Aug. 2023
The growing regulatory crackdown is rattling crypto investors, who remain shaken by the implosion late last year of FTX, a rising star that flamed out spectacularly and is now the subject of a massive federal fraud investigation.
—Allison Morrow, CNN, 6 June 2023
Rappers flame out as if gunned down in one of their own cop-killer fantasies.
—Bob Guccione Jr, Spin, 21 Aug. 2023
Simmons eventually became an All-Star before flaming out in Rivers’s first year and getting traded to Brooklyn for the mercurial Harden, who reached an NBA Finals 11 years ago in Oklahoma City but hasn’t been since.
—Adam Himmelsbach, BostonGlobe.com, 14 May 2023
Last year, as the No. 2 seed, Greenway flamed out early, stunned twice by No. 7 seed Mingus Union.
—Theo MacKie, The Arizona Republic, 11 May 2023
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'flameout.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Dictionary Entries Near flameout
Cite this Entry
“Flameout.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flameout. Accessed 29 Sep. 2023.
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