flop sweat

noun

|Updated on: 25 Jun 2018

Definition of flop sweat

: nervous sweat (as of a performer) caused especially by the fear of failing

Recent Examples of flop sweat from the Web

The flop sweat had already created a receptive environment for park detritus, thus ending any chance of salvaging my work shirt.

— nestor ramos, BostonGlobe.com, "Hassled by hound, blasted by leafblower: One man’s sweaty bike share adventure," 22 June 2018
No punchline follows for Judd Apatow, just the chance to reconnect with a youthful dream of excelling at one of entertainment’s riskiest ventures: Revealing yourself to an audience and praying for laughs, not flop sweat.

— Washington Post, "No joke: ‘Trainwreck’ filmmaker wants to be top banana," 11 Dec. 2017

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