BREAKING POINTS Synonyms: 44 Similar Words

breaking points

noun

plural of breaking point

as in crises

a time or state of affairs requiring prompt or decisive action tensions between the two nations had risen to the breaking point

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of breaking points This time around, traders often cite the booming (and opaque) private credit market and AI datacenter plans funded too much by debt — some of it off balance sheet — as likely breaking points. — Sean Conlon, CNBC, 24 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for breaking points

Noun

Created by Gene Hong (Beef), Citizen’s Arrest follows two longtime friends and neighbors whose obsession with solving a local crime becomes an escape from the private crises neither is ready to face.

— Tony Maglio, HollywoodReporter, 4 Nov. 2026
The series follows two longtime friends and neighbors whose obsession with solving a local crime becomes an escape from the private crises neither is ready to face.

— Peter White, Deadline, 4 Nov. 2026

Definition of crises

Noun

The renewal comes a day after the show’s season finale, which saw Horgan’s character, Alex, at a crossroads both personally and professionally.

— Rick Porter, HollywoodReporter, 2 Nov. 2026
Which, honestly, left them at a very uncomfortable crossroads.

— Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of crossroads

Noun

The intense temperature and pressure of the impact heated the moon's crust and mantle so much that many of the volatile elements present (volatiles are elements with low boiling points), including potassium, evaporated and escaped into space.

— Keith Cooper, Space.com, 23 Jan. 2026
Thermodynamics drives selective recovery The researchers hypothesized that FJH combined with chlorine gas could exploit differences in Gibbs free energy and boiling points to selectively remove non-REE elements from magnet waste.

— Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 29 Sep. 2025

Definition of boiling points

Noun

My doctors were department heads at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins.

— Mariska Breland, STAT, 4 Nov. 2026
The tax adds 1% to 3% to the state income tax of single filers who earn more than $360,000, joint filers who make more than $721,000 and heads of household who earn more than $490,000.

— Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times, 4 Nov. 2026

Definition of heads

Noun

The number of geopolitical flash points would multiply as governments rushed to grab their share of the oceans and protect their claims through force.

— Michael Albertus, Foreign Affairs, 30 Sep. 2026
The dispute over the route became one of the defining flash points of the conflict in Northern Ireland.

— Amanda Ferguson Reuters, Arkansas Online, 26 Sep. 2026

Definition of flash points

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breaking point

breaking points

breaking the law

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“Breaking points.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/breaking%20points. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of breaking points

noun

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