outbreak

noun

ˈau̇t-ˌbrāk How to pronounce outbreak (audio)
Definition of outbreaknext
1
as in flurry
a sudden and usually temporary growth of activity there was an immediate outbreak of paper shuffling and a pretense of work when the supervisor passed through the room

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in revolt
open fighting against authority (as one's own government) the government quelled the outbreak with ruthless efficiency

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 outbreak That’s important as the group responds to more than 20 emergencies, including the Nepal floods and Congo’s Ebola outbreak. — James Pollard, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2026 Food and Drug Administration inspections of foreign food sites — including the Mexican farm linked to the ongoing outbreak — are down nearly 35% since 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to agency records. — Matthew Perrone, Chicago Tribune, 8 Sep. 2026 But the outbreak in iceberg lettuce has also laid bare the potential downsides of those approaches. — ABC News, 8 Sep. 2026 The two Tuesday games in 2021 were games rescheduled due to COVID-19 outbreaks. — Jayna Bardahl, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for outbreak
Recent Examples of Synonyms for outbreak
  1. flurry
  2. revolt
  3. burst
  4. insurrection
  5. outburst
  6. uprising
  7. mutiny
  8. rebellion
Noun
  • The move by the shop owner launched a flurry of online discourse about the tripod-wielding gaggle of usually young, almost always female influencers who parade their phones around in the hopes of building, or nurturing, a gainful following.
    — Elizabeth Gulino, Allure, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Amid the flurry of decisions, Missouri Republicans have seized on the federal one that favored their side.
    — Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of flurry
Noun
  • The tax revolt was a successful attempt by a small group of ideologues to capitalize on people’s justifiable anger at the cost-of-living crisis that followed the war in Vietnam, along with California’s runaway home prices.
    — Maggie McGowan, The New York Review of Books, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Corbet issued a statement defending the AI use cases amid swelling online revolt.
    — Jake Angelo, semafor.com, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of revolt
Noun
  • These are short, all-out bursts of exercise performed at an intensity higher than your maximal oxygen uptake (VO₂ max).
    — Sarah Shephard, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Inflation eased in June and July, but a burst of on-again, off-again fighting in recent weeks caused crude prices to rise again.
    — Max Zahn, ABC News, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of burst
Noun
  • As Port falls in with a group of conspirators preparing for the insurrection, the book takes on a hallucinatory, digressive quality, blurring the lines between life and death, reality and illusion.
    — The New Yorker, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026
  • Stephen Colbert’s award-winning Late Show was canceled in a move that many have labeled political appeasement, and the flagship evening newscast baselessly recast the January 6 insurrection as a partisan squabble.
    — Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of insurrection
Noun
  • There was a sense that only significant deals could stave off the double threat of the Austrian’s outbursts over transfers destabilising the team midway through the campaign and Palace tumbling into a relegation battle.
    — Matt Woosnam, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026
  • According to Marco Tedesco, a geophysicist at Columbia University, the task of developing early warning systems for landslides, glacier collapse events and glacial outburst floods requires sustained effort.
    — Andrew Freedman, CNN Money, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of outburst
Noun
  • Suddenly, the humble farmer has incited a countrywide uprising.
    — Antonia Blyth, Deadline, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Following the Second World War, the United Kingdom had introduced a new National Service Act; in the early fifties, this often meant fighting in Korea, or battling an uprising against colonial rule in British Malaya, where Ascherson was deployed.
    — Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of uprising
Noun
  • Continue reading … PARTY FOUL — Jeffries threatens consequences after Dem mutiny helps move anti-socialism bill.
    — , FOXNews.com, 2 Sep. 2026
  • Critics wanted to throw a mutiny at the theater while watching the movie with a 48% Rotten Tomatoes grade.
    — Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of mutiny
Noun
  • We’ve been told that Juliette is a once-in-a-generation leader, capable of pushing a rebellion further than it’s ever gone before.
    — Noel Murray, Vulture, 4 Sep. 2026
  • So using a Mexican bean in a staple of Italian home cooking was surprising, almost like an act of rebellion.
    — Margy Rochlin, Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of rebellion

Browse Nearby Words

outbraving
outbreak
outbreaks
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Cite this Entry

“Outbreak.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/outbreak. Accessed 10 Sep. 2026.

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