nosedive

noun

nose·​dive ˈnōz-ˌdīv How to pronounce nosedive (audio)
Synonyms of nosedivenext
1
: a downward nose-first plunge of a flying object (such as an airplane)
2
: a sudden extreme drop
stock prices took a nosedive
nose-dive intransitive verb

Synonyms of nosedive

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Examples of nosedive in a Sentence

The plane went into a nosedive. The stock market took a nosedive.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
After a strong start, Kitao Sakurai’s Capcom adaptation nosedives into nonsense. — Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 15 Oct. 2026 The plane’s first officer, an Omani man named Hamam al-Hammami, had assaulted the plane’s Indian captain with an emergency axe and steered the aircraft into a nosedive. — Sudarsan Raghavan, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026 Temperatures this weekend are about to take a nosedive, from the upper 90s across the Central Valley and Southern California down into the 70s or even lower. — Sean MacAday, Sacbee.com, 9 Oct. 2026 Trust took another nosedive when OpenAI’s agents attacked Hugging Face this summer and, in a world-first, a rogue model hacked the Australian Government’s website. — Yerbol Orynbayev, Fortune, 3 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for nosedive

Word History

First Known Use

1912, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of nosedive was in 1912

Rhymes for nosedive

See All Rhymes for nosedive

Browse Nearby Words

nosed
nosedive
nose down
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Cite this Entry

“Nosedive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nosedive. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Kids Definition

nosedive

1 of 2 noun
nose·​dive ˈnōz-ˌdīv How to pronounce nosedive (audio)
1
: a downward nose-first plunge (as of an airplane)
2
: a sudden extreme drop (as in prices)

nose-dive

2 of 2 verb
nose-dived; nose-diving
: to plunge suddenly or sharply
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