as in to crack
to yield to mental or emotional stress
rather than melt down, the team strengthened their resolve and ended up winning the game
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
1
as in tailspin
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
2
as in collapse
Related Words
Dissimilar 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 meltdown
Claudia Rosenbaum, Vulture, 25 July 2025
Alas, the Yankees’ power surge came with a defensive meltdown.
—Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 24 July 2025
Preston Fore, Fortune, 27 June 2025
In fact, during antiquity, most statues depicting gods, heroes and politicians were later destroyed or melted down to make tools, such as weapons or even kitchen utensils, according to the University of Maryland.
—Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 26 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for meltdown
Verb
Los Angeles judge Mark Young has set a court hearing for January 13, 2026 for the band’s legal meltdown.
—Claudia Rosenbaum, Vulture, 25 July 2025
Alas, the Yankees’ power surge came with a defensive meltdown.
—Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 24 July 2025
Noun
With a leftist New York City politician appearing likely to be the Democratic mayoral candidate for the U.S.’ largest city, business interests are melting down over the prospects of his tax-the-rich platform aimed at improving basic services.
—Preston Fore, Fortune, 27 June 2025
In fact, during antiquity, most statues depicting gods, heroes and politicians were later destroyed or melted down to make tools, such as weapons or even kitchen utensils, according to the University of Maryland.
—Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 26 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for meltdown
Recent Examples of Synonyms for meltdown
Verb
-
If that foundation isn’t strong, the entire system starts to crack.—
Kolawole Samuel Adebayo,
Forbes.com,
31 July 2025
-
Secondary education would prove the hardest nut to crack, however, in part because white parents would not accept social mixing of the races, and Austin's Black community was still mostly confined to Central East Austin.—
Michael Barnes,
Austin American Statesman,
30 July 2025
Noun
-
In the midst of the Giants’ tailspin, the team called on their top pitching prospect to make his debut.—
Justice delos Santos,
Mercury News,
29 July 2025
-
In five of them, the Fed has done this without putting the U.S. economy into a tailspin (soft landing), including twice under Powell’s leadership.—
Paul Weinstein Jr,
Forbes.com,
24 July 2025
Noun
-
Metallica famously initiated the landmark lawsuit against peer-to-peer file sharing company Napster in 2000, which led to further suits that ultimately caused the company's initial collapse.—
Peter Aitken,
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 July 2025
-
The idea of cutting any deal with Maduro is political dynamite in Florida, where more than 350,000 Venezuelan Americans have made their homes and where emotions over Venezuela’s collapse on the hands of the Maduro regime run deep.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
13 July 2025
Noun
-
The dog remained unfazed during Fowler's minor freak-out.—
Liz O'Connell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 July 2025
-
Oasis’s last tour, in 2008, was riven by fights, freak-outs, and sibling rivalry.—
Air Mail,
Air Mail,
7 June 2025
Noun
-
Despite a joint preliminary damage assessment estimating over $15.8 million in emergency response costs and infrastructure damage, the federal government denied Maryland’s request for federal disaster assistance.—
Danny Tow,
Baltimore Sun,
28 July 2025
-
The need for such programs often reflect the reality that most people displaced by war or disaster typically stay within their country’s region, with only a minority travelling further afield.—
Frey Lindsay,
Forbes.com,
28 July 2025
Noun
-
Her father, Edwin, was a lawyer with a dangerous relationship with booze, and her mother, also named Amelia but called Amy, was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.—
Rick Kogan,
Chicago Tribune,
9 July 2025
-
But the high demands of a relentless industry proved too much and in late December 1964, Wilson suffered a nervous breakdown and stopped touring, becoming a full-time studio artist for the better part of more than a decade after that.—
Christina Maxouris,
CNN Money,
11 June 2025
Noun
-
All of the psychological tension attempted in the beginning makes way for a climactic bloodbath worthy of Freddy Krueger, robbing the film of a satisfying conclusion.—
Murtada Elfadl,
Variety,
25 July 2025
-
Each of Aster’s movies descends into chaos by its third act, but the bloodbath at the end of Eddington is particularly challenging because of what precedes it: a recognizable, if satirical, investigation of life under lockdown.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
23 July 2025
Verb
-
The District Attorney’s Office also said that in the year before her death, Brendan Doyle choked his mother in order to force her to write him two checks totaling $1,000.—
City News Service,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
31 July 2025
-
Trying to dislodge it, the rostrum punched through the gills, impaling the animal, dragging it down and slowly choking it to death.—
David Bressan,
Forbes.com,
29 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Meltdown.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/meltdown. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share