flash points

noun

plural of flash point
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

Relevance
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

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 flash points And it’s been one of the country’s most visible flash points in the race to build new critical-mineral mines. — Justin Worland, Time, 4 Aug. 2026 Kashmir remains one of the world’s most contentious geopolitical flash points. — Peter Dziedzic, The Conversation, 30 July 2026 Amid noise, close quarters, and rigid routines, interactions become flash points. — Jordan Rau, NPR, 19 July 2026 The context for Xi’s remarks was a potential war between China and the United States over Taiwan, and the urgency to tamp down flash points. — Letters To The Editor, Washington Post, 17 May 2026 Despite the focus on the Middle East, the leaders took up major regional flash points, including the South China Sea territorial disputes involving Beijing, a five-year civil war in Myanmar and a recent border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia. — Jim Gomez, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flash points
  1. volcanoes
  2. crises
  3. time bombs
  4. crossroads
  5. boiling points
  6. heads
Noun
  • In fact, in Indonesia alone there are 500 volcanoes, and 127 of them are active, including Anak Krakatau.
    — Chelsea Gohd, Space.com, 9 Sep. 2026
  • There are plenty of plantation tours around the still-active Poás and Irazú volcanoes, just a short daytrip away.
    — Brent Rose, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of volcanoes
Noun
  • Across the island, Cubans are pressing on even as the crises deepen, including 90-year-old Lázaro Alfonso Oviedo.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Brizé weaves between these absurd moments and two slow-simmering crises that cause Carla to begin doubting her diehard commitment to work.
    — Beatrice Loayza, Variety, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of crises
Noun
  • 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
Definition of time bombs
Noun
  • Still, Malone has jumped right in, even signing a player — former South Dakota center Cameron Fens, who is part of an eligibility suit filed in Tennessee — caught squarely in the crossroads of that uncertainty.
    — Brendan Marks, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Located at the junction of three continents—Europe, Asia, and Africa—the region has historically been a crossroads for conquerors, peoples, trade, and ideas.
    — Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 Sep. 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
  • Before the paddock heads to Madrid for the last European race of the season, here’s the latest edition of our post-race F1 mailbag.
    — Madeline Coleman, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Your best FinOps practitioners’ instincts are the raw material for this next wave, and the organizations that pull ahead will capture that expertise as policy an agent can act on, rather than leaving it locked in a few people’s heads.
    — Devendra Rajput, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of heads

Browse Nearby Words

flash point
flash points
flashy
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Flash points.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flash%20points. Accessed 12 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of hobnob

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
funny guinea pig in glasses reading a book
Challenging Words You Should Know Vol 2 Words to the wise
See All