Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

perfect storm

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.55 in modern English

Syllables: per-fec-t s-torm
IPA

21

Scrabble Score

12

Letters

4

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A powerful hurricane or other major weather disturbance, especially as produced by a combination of meteorological conditions.

Informal

noun

A convergence of multiple adverse factors that together create a critical, disastrous, or unusually severe situation.

Example Sentences

"1796, William Fordyce Mavor, Historical account of the most celebrated voyages, travels, and discoveries ..., p. 161, But on the 24th of April, the wind again blew a perfect storm, and our other ships of the squadron separated, nor did any of them rejoin the commodore."
"1914, Samuel Finley Breese Morse and Edward Lind Morse, Samuel F.B. Morse: His Letters and Journals, p. 190, Ten o'clock. Beginning to blow hard; taking in sails one after another. — Three o'clock. A perfect storm; the gale a few days ago but a gentle breeze to it."
"Hung my head as I lost the war And the sky turned black like a perfect storm"
"1862, Frank Moore, Edward Everett, The Rebellion Record: A Diary of American Events, p. 149, They sent a perfect storm of bullets, over, under, and into our men."
"Tory said he was worried that "a perfect storm" of economic factors could put tourist operators and their communities in peril."

Etymology

First use appears c. 1936 in the newspaper The Port Arthur News.

Usage

Informal

Inflected Forms

perfect storms (plural)

Questions

What does perfect storm mean?: A powerful hurricane or other major weather disturbance, especially as produced by a combination of meteorological conditions.
Where does perfect storm come from?: First use appears c. 1936 in the newspaper The Port Arthur News.

How to pronounce perfect storm

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