nervous breakdown
noun
: an attack of mental or emotional disorder especially when of sufficient severity to require hospitalization
Examples of nervous breakdown in a Sentence
She had a nervous breakdown shortly after her sister's death.
He is on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Recent Examples on the Web
Then there was Spark’s nervous breakdown in January 1954.
—
Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 10 Aug. 2025
Or perhaps Christie had a bout of amnesia or a nervous breakdown and traveled confusedly around England, as many of her biographers and her own doctors have suggested.
—Emily Zarevich, JSTOR Daily, 24 July 2025
Leonora’s intuition, during her nervous breakdown, that the war was being waged by hypnotic power was perhaps not entirely wrong.
—Celia Bell
july 22, Literary Hub, 22 July 2025
Her father, Edwin, was a lawyer with a dangerous relationship with booze, and her mother, also named Amelia but called Amy, was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
—Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune, 9 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for nervous breakdown
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Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 10 Aug. 2025
Or perhaps Christie had a bout of amnesia or a nervous breakdown and traveled confusedly around England, as many of her biographers and her own doctors have suggested.
—Emily Zarevich, JSTOR Daily, 24 July 2025
Leonora’s intuition, during her nervous breakdown, that the war was being waged by hypnotic power was perhaps not entirely wrong.
—Celia Bell
july 22, Literary Hub, 22 July 2025
Her father, Edwin, was a lawyer with a dangerous relationship with booze, and her mother, also named Amelia but called Amy, was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
—Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune, 9 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for nervous breakdown
Cite this Entry
“Nervous breakdown.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nervous%20breakdown. Accessed 3 Sep. 2025.
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