Synonyms of make-or-break

make-or-break

adjective

as in crucial

resulting in either definite success or definite failure

a make-or-break decision

The next year will be a make-or-break time for the company.

Related Words

• crucial
• critical
• pivotal
• watershed
• climactic
• apocalyptic
• go-no-go
• highest
• life-and-death
• climacteric
• culminating
• crowning
• fateful
• momentous
• decisive
• vital
• epochal
• apical
• crossover
• crestal
• meridian
• high
• deciding
• earthshaking
• apogean
• payoff
• cataclysmal

Dissimilar Words

• trivial
• unimportant
• insignificant
• inconsequential
• anticlimactic
• indecisive
• noncritical

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of make-or-break

Quinton Byfield, Los Angeles Kings This is a make-or-break season for Byfield. — Harman Dayal, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2026

While it’s scripted and executed as if in the express lane, the storyline of the team’s make-or-break match hits every note of the comeback sports-movie genre. — Kevin Dolak, HollywoodReporter, 30 Sep. 2026

The next few months could be make-or-break for smaller players in the space hoping to earn staying power. — Alex Harring, CNBC, 14 Sep. 2026

Riley, meanwhile, has not seemed like a head coach who’s feeling the heat heading into a make-or-break season at USC. — Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 28 Aug. 2026