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
Relevance
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
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 tinderboxes
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
John P. O’Brien, Mercury News, 13 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tinderboxes
Noun
-
Nicaragua has 27 volcanoes, eight of which are active.—
Abbey Mastracco,
New York Daily News,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Melting associated with these volcanoes unlocks carbon that’s been trapped inside rocks for thousands of years, bringing it to Earth's surface.—
Ben Mather,
Space.com,
7 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Her elegant collaboration was a reminder that the world has long created the kinds of crises that threaten our stability today, and a good artist finds a way to make work that shows us a way through it, even if the answer is as simple as making something beautiful.—
Rachel Tashjian,
CNN Money,
18 Feb. 2026
-
When the walls close in The 2009 timeline finds the friends scattered across separate crises.—
JP Mangalindan,
Time,
17 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Klauss joins a team at an important crossroads.—
Kevin Baxter,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Feb. 2026
-
That realization forced a crossroads.—
Abraham Nudelstejer,
Dallas Morning News,
16 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tinderboxes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tinderboxes. Accessed 23 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
