1
as in volcanoes
a potentially explosive place or situation
that troubled region remains one of the world's most dangerous flash points
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in crises
a time or state of affairs requiring prompt or decisive action
tensions between the two longtime adversaries were at a flash point
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of flash points
One of the flash points in women’s college basketball history unfolded during the 2021 NCAA tournament, when all teams were quarantined in the same bubble in San Antonio for all rounds during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
—
Marisa Ingemi, Los Angeles Times, 3 Apr. 2026
But more potential flash points loom.
—Jill Lawless The Associated Press, Arkansas Online, 5 Feb. 2026
Policymakers expect other flash points.
—Alan Greenblatt, CBS News, 12 Jan. 2026
And a handful of standout horror films from around the ’70s, Johnson argues, specifically mirrored and even accelerated feminist flash points at a moment when public opinion regarding the roles and rights of women was wildly in flux.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 30 Oct. 2025
Arrests are taking place all over the Chicago area, but some of the biggest flash points have occurred on the South and West Sides, which are home to many of the city’s largest Black and Latino communities.
—Geraldo Cadava, New Yorker, 16 Oct. 2025
Those efforts are now critical as AI and semiconductors become geopolitical flash points.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 5 Aug. 2025
Marisa Ingemi, Los Angeles Times, 3 Apr. 2026
But more potential flash points loom.
—Jill Lawless The Associated Press, Arkansas Online, 5 Feb. 2026
Policymakers expect other flash points.
—Alan Greenblatt, CBS News, 12 Jan. 2026
And a handful of standout horror films from around the ’70s, Johnson argues, specifically mirrored and even accelerated feminist flash points at a moment when public opinion regarding the roles and rights of women was wildly in flux.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 30 Oct. 2025
Arrests are taking place all over the Chicago area, but some of the biggest flash points have occurred on the South and West Sides, which are home to many of the city’s largest Black and Latino communities.
—Geraldo Cadava, New Yorker, 16 Oct. 2025
Those efforts are now critical as AI and semiconductors become geopolitical flash points.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 5 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flash points
Noun
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Instead, Chinese Indonesian studio operators worked with Javanese painters to produce popular backdrops of local Indonesian landscapes—featuring scenery such as palm trees and volcanoes—with modern instruments like radios and motorboats serving as props.—
H.M.A. Leow,
JSTOR Daily,
17 Apr. 2026
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Lassen has all four types of volcanoes, though the group never saw them, as the park had no roads in 1920.—
Jacqueline Kehoe,
Travel + Leisure,
13 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Throughout several consecutive years of unprecedented crises, the story follows a movement pushed to its limits.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
21 Apr. 2026
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There has been intense speculation about the role that mental health crises might have played in both shootings.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
21 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Ray’s most chaotic photograms—jumbles that push out of the frame or look like time bombs ready to explode—find echoes in his films, projected on the back walls, a show in themselves.—
Vince Aletti,
New Yorker,
3 Oct. 2025
Noun
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For centuries, these islands have been at the crossroads of empires, trade routes and cultures.—
Adam Pourahmadi,
CNN Money,
22 Apr. 2026
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The multitude of water managers tasked with overseeing the drying Colorado River system stand at a dire crossroads.—
Elise Schmelzer,
Denver Post,
19 Apr. 2026
Noun
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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
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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
Noun
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The younger two brothers float paper boats in the kitchen sink and Jeremy plays along, sprinkling flour on their heads—but making the kitchen a total mess.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
12 Apr. 2026
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Ordinary humans like Stephen’s selfish boss are depicted as giant walking eggs, while others are proportioned like bobble heads.—
Wilson Chapman,
IndieWire,
11 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Flash points.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flash%20points. Accessed 23 Apr. 2026.
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