Synonyms of tinderboxes

tinderboxes

noun

plural of tinderbox

1

as in volcanoes

a potentially explosive place or situation

officials sought to calm the situation, which had grown into a tinderbox

Synonyms & Similar Words

• volcanoes
• time bombs
• powder kegs
• flash points
• hot buttons
• third rails

2

as in crises

a time or state of affairs requiring prompt or decisive action

while the country's prime minister was meeting with the U.S. president, a political tinderbox was igniting at home

Synonyms & Similar Words

• crises
• crossroads
• heads
• emergencies
• situations
• extremities
• clutches
• flash points
• exigencies
• boiling points
• junctures
• conjunctures
• crunches
• crunch times
• Dunkirks
• possibilities
• breaking points
• zero hours
• milestones
• predicaments
• points of no return
• contingencies
• corners
• climaxes
• conditions
• deadlocks
• landmarks
• moments of truth
• turning points
• holes
• happenings
• fixes
• straits
• jams
• passes
• hot waters
• impasses
• stalemates
• spots
• scrapes
• pinches
• last minutes
• last ditches
• eleventh hours

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of tinderboxes

The Industrial Revolution, supercharged by the Civil War, transformed Northeastern cities into denser and denser wooden tinderboxes filled with tons of humans more than capable of accidentally generating sparks. — Noah Haggerty, Los Angeles Times, 2 Apr. 2026

Unlike natural thinning, large fire-resilient trees are typically high-graded for felling in Jackson, creating tinderboxes of 300 to 500 mostly juvenile trees per acre. — John P. O’Brien, Mercury News, 13 Sep. 2025