Definition

1. Noun:
   • A crucial stage or turning point in the course of something: A decisive moment or period when significant change, for better or worse, is imminent. This often involves intense difficulty or danger.
   • An unstable situation of extreme danger or difficulty: A time of great disorder, trouble, or uncertainty, especially in social, political, or economic affairs.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • The country is facing an unprecedented constitutional crisis.
  • The doctor said the patient's fever reached a crisis last night.
  • The company's leadership failed to manage the public relations crisis effectively.
  • During the financial crisis, many people lost their jobs.

Advanced Usage

• "to come to a crisis": to reach a decisive or critical point.
  • The negotiations have come to a crisis; a decision must be made today.
• "to pass through a crisis": to experience and survive a critical period.
  • The nation passed through a severe economic crisis in the 1930s.

Variants and Related Words

• Crises (n): The plural form of 'crisis'.
  • The 20th century witnessed multiple global crises.
• Critical (adj): Relating to or being a crisis; expressing adverse or disapproving comments.
  • The patient is in critical condition.
• Critically (adv): In a critical manner; at a crisis point.
  • The system is critically important.

Synonyms

• Emergency: A serious, unexpected, and often dangerous situation requiring immediate action.
• Catastrophe: An event causing great and often sudden damage or suffering.
• Turning point: A time at which a decisive change in a situation occurs.

Related Phrases

• Identity crisis: A period of uncertainty and confusion in which a person's sense of identity becomes insecure.
  • The character in the novel is going through an identity crisis.
• Midlife crisis: An emotional crisis of identity and self-confidence that can occur in early middle age.
  • He bought a sports car, which his friends joked was a sign of a midlife crisis.

Idioms

• "A crisis of confidence": A situation in which people no longer believe that a government, system, etc., is effective.
  • The scandal provoked a crisis of confidence in the banking sector.

Noun

1. a crucial stage or turning point in the course of something
   • after the crisis the patient either dies or gets better
2. an unstable situation of extreme danger or difficulty
   • they went bankrupt during the economic crisis