Synonyms of tinderbox

tinderbox

noun

ˈtin-dər-ˌbäks 

1

as in volcano

a potentially explosive place or situation

officials sought to calm the situation, which had grown into a tinderbox

Synonyms & Similar Words

• volcano
• time bomb
• powder keg
• flash point
• third rail
• hot button

2

as in crisis

a time or state of affairs requiring prompt or decisive action

while the country's prime minister was meeting with the U.S. president, a political tinderbox was igniting at home

Synonyms & Similar Words

• crisis
• situation
• emergency
• head
• crossroad(s)
• extremity
• exigency
• boiling point
• flash point
• clutch
• conjuncture
• juncture
• breaking point
• crunch
• crunch time
• point of no return
• moment of truth
• zero hour
• predicament
• Dunkirk
• possibility
• milestone
• climax
• deadlock
• contingency
• corner
• landmark
• happening
• turning point
• impasse
• hot water
• condition
• jam
• stalemate
• strait
• hole
• pass
• fix
• spot
• pinch
• last ditch
• eleventh hour
• last minute
• scrape

Examples of tinderbox in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The two deaths of leaders from Iran's key proxies – one on Iranian soil – threatens to ignite the tinderbox of tensions between the long-time foes. —Harriet Marsden, The Week Uk, theweek, 31 July 2024

The tinderbox only needed a further spark to ignite real violence, eventually provided by the brutal killing of three children. —Katie Marie Davies, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 Aug. 2024

Almost immediately, however, the city became a tinderbox for tensions between the Soviets and the West. —Dmitri Alperovitch, Foreign Affairs, 15 May 2024

And a two-state solution has been viewed globally as a long-term answer to douse the tinderbox that is the Middle East. —John Bacon, USA TODAY, 30 Jan. 2024