English Explanatory Dictionary

crisis

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  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.
  3. A sudden change in the course of a disease, usually at which point the patient is expected to either recover or die.
  4. A traumatic or stressful change in a person's life.
  5. A point in a drama at which a conflict reaches a peak before being resolved.

Pronunciation

/ˈkɹaɪsɪs/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Back ache-crisis.wav En-us-crisis.ogg /ˈkɹɑesɪs/ /ˈkɹaɪsəs/ [ˈkɹɑe̯səs]

Word forms

crisis crises

Etymology

From Latin crisis, from Ancient Greek κρίσις (krísis, “a separating, power of distinguishing, decision, choice, election, judgment, dispute”), from κρίνω (krínō, “pick out, choose, decide, judge”).

Related words

criterion critic critical criticize critique

Derived words

acrisia Asian songbird crisis behavioral crisis budget crisis climate crisis constitutional crisis crisis actor crisis center crisis hotline crisis intervention crisisless crisis line crisis management crisis response team crisis-ridden crisitunity currency crisis diabetic crisis ecocrisis economic crisis energy crisis epicrisis epistemic crisis Eurocrisis European debt crisis existential crisis financial crisis healing crisis humanitarian crisis identity crisis international crisis Messinian salinity crisis mid-life crisis midlife crisis minicrisis multicrisis never waste a crisis noncrisis oxygenation crisis oxygen crisis permacrisis personal crisis polycrisis postcrisis precrisis psychedelic crisis psychological crisis quarter-life crisis renal crisis replication crisis scissors crisis software crisis
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