crisis

plural crises

1. A crucial or decisive point or situation; a turning point.
2. An unstable situation, in political, social, economic or military affairs, especially one involving an impending abrupt change.

   The financial crisis could have been avoided and was the result of poor decision making both in Washington and at top financial firms that fostered a culture of excessive risk taking, according to a draft report written by Democrats on a panel that investigated the meltdown and obtained by Reuters.

   2011 January 25, Dave Clarke, “Panel says financial crisis avoidable”, in Reuters, archived from the original on 22 Jul 2025

   2 more examples

   The big question, I believe, is whether the Italian and maybe Spanish crises are the kind of thing that might be brought under control by ECB bond purchases. This is often phrased in terms of whether they are facing liquidity or solvency problems; but I think it’s better phrased in terms of the possibility of self-fulfilling crises, a la Obstfeld. […] So there is a reasonable case that what we’re seeing in Italy is a self-fulfilling crisis trying to happen, in which fear of default is precisely what leads to default.

   2011 August 7, Paul Krugman, “A Self-Fulfilling Euro Crisis? (Wonkish)”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 11 Jul 2022

   Are they right? Is pessimism correct? Could the state of the world, like the stripes on a barbershop pole, keep sinking lower and lower? It’s easy to see why people feel that way: every day the news is filled with stories about war, terrorism, crime, pollution, inequality, drug abuse, and oppression. And it’s not just the headlines we’re talking about; it’s the op-eds and long-form stories as well. Magazine covers warn us of coming anarchies, plagues, epidemics, collapses, and so many “crises” (farm, health, retirement, welfare, energy, deficit) that copywriters have had to escalate to the redundant “serious crisis.” Whether or not the world really is getting worse, the nature of news will interact with the nature of cognition to make us think that it is. News is about things that happen, not things that don’t happen.

   2018, Steven Pinker, “Chapter 3: Counter-Enlightenments”, in Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, Penguin, →ISBN

3. medicineA sudden change in the course of a disease, usually at which point the patient is expected to either recover or die.
4. human sciencesA traumatic or stressful change in a person's life.

   I'm having a major crisis trying to wallpaper the living room.

5. broadcastingA point in a drama at which a conflict reaches a peak before being resolved.
6. euphemisticOrgasm

   Connie found it impossible to come to her crisis before he had really finished his.

   1929, D.H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley's Lover

   2 more examples

   The orgasm started slow, a few little twitches and vibrations, but as if he sensed her crisis, he increased both the speed of his thrusting fingers and the suction of his mouth on her sex.

   2012 October 31, Jess Michaels, For Desire Alone, The Passionate Pen

   He grunted as his thrusts increased, grew harder, and just as her crisis ended, he withdrew with a curse.

   2021 July 20, Jess Michaels, To Protect a Princess, The Passionate Pen, →ISBN