perfect storm

noun

: a critical or disastrous situation created by a powerful concurrence of factors

Examples of perfect storm in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web All of this has rolled into a perfect storm impacting public health and safety, businesses, and quality of life – making homelessness a top concern for California voters. Francine Kiefer, The Christian Science Monitor, 1 Mar. 2024 Several ski resorts were forced to temporarily close Saturday after a perfect storm of bad conditions — heavy snow, gusty winds, tough ice on chairlifts, road closures and power outages, to name a few. Daniel Hunt, Sacramento Bee, 2 Mar. 2024 In the next ten years, this could be a perfect storm opportunity for those people who want to be entrepreneurs/owners but don’t really know how to start a business or want the risk. Bernhard Schroeder, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2024 Staff, transport, food and drink, and energy costs have all soared in the last few years through a perfect storm of issues. Byryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 20 Feb. 2024 Experts say first-time millennial prospective homebuyers are facing a major crisis stirred by a perfect storm of rising housing prices, interest rates and tougher competition from several generations of buyers. Brad Mielke, ABC News, 24 Nov. 2023 Supporters of Oregon’s law say it was confronted by a perfect storm of broader forces, including the COVID-19 pandemic, a mental health workforce shortage and the fentanyl crisis, which didn’t reach fever pitch until after the law took effect in early 2021. Claire Rush, Fortune Well, 19 Nov. 2023 Those vulnerabilities create a perfect storm for what’s known as an heirs’ property hunter. Patrice Gaines, NBC News, 16 Feb. 2024 For that era, both albums were the rare perfect storm in pop music of being both critically acclaimed widely beloved. Brittany Spanos, Rolling Stone, 8 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'perfect storm.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1998, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of perfect storm was in 1998

Dictionary Entries Near perfect storm

Cite this Entry

“Perfect storm.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/perfect%20storm. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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