nervous breakdown

noun

: an attack of mental or emotional disorder especially when of sufficient severity to require hospitalization

Synonyms

• breakdown
• crack-up
• tailspin

Examples of nervous breakdown in a Sentence

She had a nervous breakdown shortly after her sister's death.

He is on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Recent Examples on the Web

Her perplexed grins and escalating paranoia are just shy of a nervous breakdown, but she is too measured to reduce an identity-shifting character to one frenetic quality. —Matthew Jacobs, Vulture, 8 May 2024

Such heresies triggered a nervous breakdown from which the U.S. foreign policy establishment has yet to fully recover. —Andrew J. Bacevich, Foreign Affairs, 28 Feb. 2023

Can’t a girl have a nervous breakdown/trial separation/midlife crisis/death/divorce in peace around here?! —Kimberlee Speakman, Peoplemag, 1 June 2024

Sure, this month’s highlights include Benedict Cumberbatch as a Jim Henson wannabe on the verge of a nervous breakdown and an action thriller whose hero is an icon of Black radical politics. —Judy Berman, TIME, 31 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1866, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

nervous breakdown

noun

: an attack of mental or emotional disorder that is severe enough to require hospitalization

Medical Definition

nervous breakdown

noun

: an attack of mental or emotional disorder especially when of sufficient severity to require hospitalization