How do you use the word "crisis" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "crisis": You must know you're faced with a crisis. There will be an energy crisis in the near future.

Crisis Meaning

/ˈkɹaɪsɪs/

Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

nounA crucial or decisive point or situation; a turning point.

nounAn unstable situation, in political, social, economic or military affairs, especially one involving an impending abrupt change.

Sentence Examples

You must know you're faced with a crisis.

There will be an energy crisis in the near future.

She publicly denounced the government's handling of the crisis.

CEFR Practice Quiz

The government met late into the night to address the sudden water ____.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

You must know you're faced with a ____.

Word Origin & History

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”).

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"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:

"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:

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