perfect storm

noun

Definition 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

During the 2008 financial crisis, Citi was presented as the victim of events beyond its control -- the larger financial panic, unforeseen economic disruptions, and a perfect storm of credit expansion, private greed, and public incompetence. — Fox News, "'Borrowed Time: Two Centuries of Booms, Busts, and Bailouts at Citi' by James Freeman and Vern McKinley," 6 Aug. 2018 The online reactions are the perfect storm of excited, nervous, and immediately critical. — Aamina Khan, Teen Vogue, "Ramy Youssef Wants to "Complicate the Conversation" with His New Hulu Series," 19 Apr. 2019 Other portfolio managers are also watching to see whether the dollar’s climb will set the stage for a perfect storm in the oil market. — Jessica Menton, WSJ, "Energy Stocks Try to Shed Reputation as the ‘Fifth Beatle’," 19 Nov. 2018 Brokers say that the Manhattan market was hit by a perfect storm of other problems, after several euphoric years when sales and asking prices rose rapidly. — Josh Barbanel, WSJ, "Manhattan Apartment Sales in 2018 Sink to Low Hit After Financial Crisis," 29 Dec. 2018 In the end, a perfect storm of fierce competition, too little funding, and government regulations killed Raden. — Chavie Lieber, Vox, "When the “best” busts: the spectacular rise and fall of smart luggage startup Raden," 12 Dec. 2018 The reports point to a perfect storm of sorts that's fueling rampant infections. — Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, "E-commerce site is infected not by one, but two card skimmers," 20 Nov. 2018 Wait times will probably only get longer, thanks to a perfect storm of events that created today’s tradesman shortage. — Brian Sodoma, azcentral, "A little training goes a long way in contractor's battle with qualified tradesman shortage," 26 Apr. 2018 These new routes and airline updates are in response to a perfect storm of cultural and celebrity happenings which, over the last couple years, firmly reignited America’s infatuation with Tahiti. — Cynthia Drescher, Condé Nast Traveler, "Why Everyone Is Suddenly Traveling to Tahiti," 9 Nov. 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.

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Last Updated

20 Jun 2019

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The first known use of perfect storm was in 1998

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