part of speech: noun
Sentence from text: Most people blame the government for the country's worsening economic crisis.
Definition 1a: the turning point for better or worse in an acute disease or fever b: a paroxysmal attack of pain, distress, or disordered function c: an emotionally significant event or radical change of status in a person's life a midlife crisis 2: the decisive moment (as in a literary plot) The crisis of the play occurs in Act 3. 3a: an unstable or crucial time or state of affairs in which a decisive change is impending especially : one with the distinct possibility of a highly undesirable outcome a financial crisis the nation's energy crisis b: a situation that has reached a critical phase the environmental crisis the unemployment crisis
Synonyms: boiling point, breaking point, clutch, conjuncture, crossroad(s), crunch, crunch time, Dunkirk, emergency, exigency, extremity, flash point, head, juncture, tinderbox, zero hour
Antyonyms: none
Other forms of word: plural crises
My sentence: She was dealing with a family crisis at the time.
First known use: 15th century
History and Etymology: Middle English crise, crisis, borrowed from Latin crisis "judgment, critical stage," borrowed from Greek krísis "act of separating, decision, judgment, event, outcome, turning point, sudden change," from kri-, variant stem of krī́nein "to separate, choose, decide, judge" + -sis, suffix forming nouns of action or process — more at CERTAIN entry 1