perfect storm

noun

Updated on: 12 Apr 2018

Definition of perfect storm

: a critical or disastrous situation created by a powerful concurrence of factors

Recent Examples of perfect storm from the Web

All these aspirations have to navigate a perfect storm of sluggishness.

— justin davidson, Daily Intelligencer, "How Can It Take 15 Years and $32 Million to Build a Neighborhood Library?," 29 Mar. 2018
The Cambridge Analytical scandal, which merges Facebook’s privacy problem with its politics problem, is in some ways a perfect storm.

— alex shephard, The New Republic, "Is Facebook Going to Take Silicon Valley Down With It?," 21 Mar. 2018
Republicans are eager to tag Lamb’s apparent victory as a one-off, a perfect storm of a lousy GOP candidate and a young, telegenic Democrat who basically ran as a Republican.

— john wildermuth, San Francisco Chronicle, "Democrat’s apparent win in GOP stronghold holds lessons for California," 14 Mar. 2018
These improvements, combined with the success of the Switch, seem to have created a perfect storm.

— andrew webster, The Verge, "How the Nintendo Switch became the hottest indie game platform," 22 Mar. 2018
For Trump, the lawsuit has developed into a perfect storm of overlapping legal, ethical and political problems.

— mj lee, CNN, "Stormy Daniels tells friend: This is a 'nightmare'," 22 Mar. 2018
However, this was a perfect storm of transitions, hope, heartbreak, and financial desperation.

— calle hack, Allure, "Why Dyeing My Hair Blonde at Home Was a Huge Mistake," 21 Mar. 2018
With a perfect storm of frustration among politicians, social media companies may be racing the regulators, particularly in Europe, where numerous countries are pushing ahead with aggressive new rules.

— alyssa newcomb /, NBC News, "Tech companies struggle with the human side of fake news," 17 Mar. 2018
Charlotte Lawrence’s voice was that perfect storm of beauty, anger and quiet strength which is a rare find.

— kat bein, Billboard, "Kaskade & Charlotte Lawrence Make Break Ups Beautiful on 'Cold As Stone': Listen," 16 Mar. 2018

These 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.