breakneck

/'breiknek/

Thân thiện

The car raced down the highway at a breakneck speed.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Extremely and often dangerously fast: Used to describe a speed, pace, or rate that is so high it seems reckless or hazardous.

Usage

• The adjective "breakneck" is almost always used attributively (before a noun) to modify words like "speed," "pace," or "rate." It emphasizes a dangerous or unsustainable level of speed.
• It describes an action or process carried out with intense, hurried urgency.

Examples

• The company is expanding at a breakneck pace.
• He drove down the mountain road at breakneck speed.
• Technological advancement is happening at a breakneck rate.
• The project was completed on time thanks to a breakneck schedule.

Advanced Usage

• "breakneck" as an intensifier: The word can function as an intensifier for other concepts involving rapid change or development, not just physical speed.
  • The country's breakneck industrialization has transformed its cities.
• Implied danger: While sometimes used hyperbolically, the term often carries a connotation of risk, recklessness, or lack of control due to the excessive speed.

Variants and Related Words

• Breakneck is a compound word formed from "break" + "neck." It does not have standard verb or noun forms (e.g., one does not typically say "to breakneck" or "a breakneck").
• Related Concept: The imagery suggests a speed so high that it could cause a neck-breaking accident.

Synonyms

• Dizzying: So fast as to cause confusion.
• Headlong: With reckless haste.
• Breathtaking: Astonishingly fast.
• Blistering: Extremely fast and intense.
• Reckless: Marked by a lack of care for danger, often due to speed.

Antonyms

• Leisurely: Relaxed and unhurried.
• Gradual: Taking place slowly over time.
• Measured: Deliberate and careful in pace.
• Cautious: Avoiding speed or risk.

Idioms and Phrases

• At breakneck speed/pace: The most common collocation, meaning to move or proceed extremely quickly.
  • The construction of the stadium proceeded at breakneck speed to meet the deadline.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. moving at very high speed
   • a breakneck pace