as in to crack
to yield to mental or emotional stress
rather than melt down, the team strengthened their resolve and ended up winning the game
Synonyms & Similar Words
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1
as in tailspin
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
2
as in collapse
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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of melt down
Tribune Content Agency, Baltimore Sun, 5 Jan. 2026
The shorter the line, the less likely there will be a melt down (and melt downs mean having to spend precious time decompressing someplace quiet, or possibly having to end the entire excursion early and going back to the hotel).
—Priscilla Blossom, Parents, 2 Jan. 2026
Abid Rahman, HollywoodReporter, 10 Feb. 2026
The film is set in Fukushima Prefecture, after the nuclear meltdown in 2011.
—Zachary Fine, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for melt down
Verb
Sidestep a financial wrangle if someone is melting down.
—Tribune Content Agency, Baltimore Sun, 5 Jan. 2026
The shorter the line, the less likely there will be a melt down (and melt downs mean having to spend precious time decompressing someplace quiet, or possibly having to end the entire excursion early and going back to the hotel).
—Priscilla Blossom, Parents, 2 Jan. 2026
Noun
The right-wing meltdown over Bad Bunny‘s Super Bowl Halftime Show performance had Jon Stewart fired up more than usual on Monday’s episode of The Daily Show.
—Abid Rahman, HollywoodReporter, 10 Feb. 2026
The film is set in Fukushima Prefecture, after the nuclear meltdown in 2011.
—Zachary Fine, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for melt down
Recent Examples of Synonyms for melt down
Verb
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Even for those films that did crack the best British film list, though, the recognition can feel tokenistic.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
13 Feb. 2026
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But soon her story begins to crack.—
Kaycee Sloan,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
13 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Another cousin, the son of my industrialist uncle, has given up regattas and the hedonist’s life for a position in his father’s company that is, like all companies in Turkey, faltering under the tremendous burden of an economy in tailspin.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Feb. 2026
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Advertisement But economists warn more structural reform is required to truly arrest Thailand’s economic tailspin.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Yamil Lage | Afp | Getty Images Cuba’s communist-run government is facing its biggest test since the collapse of the Soviet Union.—
Sam Meredith,
CNBC,
14 Feb. 2026
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The stars eventually go supernova, and their respective cores collapse to form black holes containing as much as 100 times the mass of the sun.—
Phil Plait,
Scientific American,
13 Feb. 2026
Noun
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This time, Carr’s freak-out was an attempt to stretch the FCC’s equal-time rules to apply to talk shows — both late night and daytime.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
23 Jan. 2026
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For now, though, Chang is in her bubble up north and witnessing most of the freak-outs remotely and not in person.—
Jessica Radloff,
Glamour,
14 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Another measure, House Bill 1645, would create state versions of FEMA programs as Mississippi officials prepare for reduced federal disaster support.—
ALEX ROZIER Mississippi Today,
Arkansas Online,
14 Feb. 2026
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The February 2021 freeze became one of the deadliest and costliest disasters in state history.—
Newsroom Meteorologist,
Houston Chronicle,
13 Feb. 2026
Noun
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As for this devastated, miserable, freaked out, walking nervous breakdown of a man?—
Stephen Schaefer,
Boston Herald,
25 Nov. 2025
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The 1970s were Hollywood’s nervous breakdown.—
Remy Blumenfeld,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Israeli settler violence and settlement expansion has grown, and daily Palestinian life has been choked by movement restrictions and military raids.—
Daniel Estrin,
NPR,
13 Feb. 2026
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The partygoers don’t really know how to react until Stab interrupts the performance to choke Kid out, and then everyone becomes horrified.—
Alphonse Pierre,
Pitchfork,
13 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Companies continued to publicly share their demographics for years after Jackson’s first push, and Jackson followed up with varying success, asking for more data on board and C-suite diversity, gender and race breakdowns of suppliers and contractors, and employee retention.—
Jacqueline Munis,
Fortune,
19 Feb. 2026
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Sheriff Marian Brown declined to explain what is being done to prevent similar breakdowns.—
Dallas Morning News,
Dallas Morning News,
19 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Melt down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/melt%20down. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.
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