perfect storm
nounDefinition of perfect storm
: a critical or disastrous situation created by a powerful concurrence of factors
Examples of perfect storm in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Their qualification was secured by a 'perfect storm' of results on the final day of qualifying which saw them make it to Russia at the expense of both Honduras and the United States. — SI.com, "9 of the Best Football Chants at the World Cup," 18 June 2018 The National Weather Service in Indianapolis is predicting rain and thunderstorms through the weekend, lining up a perfect storm for allergy sufferers. — Vic Ryckaert, Indianapolis Star, "Seasonal allergy sufferers should stay inside this weekend because ‘thunder fever’," 17 May 2018 Indianapolis was the perfect storm of Barkley’s tape and in-person workout, creating peak hysteria. — Conor Orr, SI.com, "How Teams Interview Top Quarterback Prospects," 18 Apr. 2018 But the live nature of Fortnite’s rocket launch, combined with the sheer scale of the game, have resulted in a perfect storm. — Andrew Webster, The Verge, "Fortnite has the most interesting video game story in years," 2 July 2018 But Abloh, unlike Boateng, has what Agins considers the perfect storm that is only possible in 2018: the power of social media, marketing, and celebrity. — refinery29.com, "Before Virgil Abloh, There Was Ozwald Boateng," 21 June 2018 And in some respects the 48th, with its weak but universally known incumbent Republican (Rohrabacher), its viable GOP challenger (Baugh) and its multiple warring Democrats, is a perfect storm for the lockout scenario. — Ed Kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, "How 3 Races in California Could Cost Democrats Control of the House of Representatives," 2 June 2018 Experts attribute the relatively sluggish market to a perfect storm of factors—including, well, storms. — Chris Taylor, Fortune, "Why Your Summer House Could Be a Shaky Investment," 29 May 2018 But there hadn't been a perfect storm like this season when Mainieri lost his starting pitching and his five best position players to the draft. — Ron Higgins, NOLA.com, "LSU lives to fight another weekend after SEC championship game loss," 27 May 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'perfect storm.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Last Updated
10 Oct 2018
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The first known use of perfect storm was in 1998
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