flash points

noun

plural of flash point
1
as in volcanoes
a potentially explosive place or situation that troubled region remains one of the world's most dangerous flash points

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in crises
a time or state of affairs requiring prompt or decisive action tensions between the two longtime adversaries were at a flash point

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of flash points And it’s been one of the country’s most visible flash points in the race to build new critical-mineral mines. — Justin Worland, Time, 4 Aug. 2026 Kashmir remains one of the world’s most contentious geopolitical flash points. — Peter Dziedzic, The Conversation, 30 July 2026 Amid noise, close quarters, and rigid routines, interactions become flash points. — Jordan Rau, NPR, 19 July 2026 The context for Xi’s remarks was a potential war between China and the United States over Taiwan, and the urgency to tamp down flash points. — Letters To The Editor, Washington Post, 17 May 2026 Despite the focus on the Middle East, the leaders took up major regional flash points, including the South China Sea territorial disputes involving Beijing, a five-year civil war in Myanmar and a recent border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia. — Jim Gomez, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2026 But more potential flash points loom. — Jill Lawless The Associated Press, Arkansas Online, 5 Feb. 2026 Policymakers expect other flash points. — Alan Greenblatt, CBS News, 12 Jan. 2026 And a handful of standout horror films from around the ’70s, Johnson argues, specifically mirrored and even accelerated feminist flash points at a moment when public opinion regarding the roles and rights of women was wildly in flux. — Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 30 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flash points
  1. volcanoes
  2. crises
  3. time bombs
  4. crossroads
  5. boiling points
  6. heads
Noun
  • Indonesia is an archipelago of more than 280 million people with frequent seismic activity and Sinabung is among more than 120 active volcanoes.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Earth’s moon—which also has the advantage of being 50 percent larger than Pluto and of having volcanoes that once spewed actual lava instead of mere water—fully deserves planethood by these very same metrics.
    — Mike Brown, Scientific American, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of volcanoes
Noun
  • Both of the relationship crises reach what seem like turning points.
    — Keith Phipps, Vulture, 2 Sep. 2026
  • But the island’s multiple crises forced the government to end the previous school year in June — one month early.
    — Dánica Coto, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of crises
Noun
  • Ray’s most chaotic photograms—jumbles that push out of the frame or look like time bombs ready to explode—find echoes in his films, projected on the back walls, a show in themselves.
    — Vince Aletti, New Yorker, 3 Oct. 2025
Definition of time bombs
Noun
  • Jeffries, who is poised to become the House speaker if his party wins power and would be the first Democrat to wield the gavel since Pelosi, faces a party at a crossroads.
    — Lisa Mascaro, Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Although geopolitical analysts love to talk about turning points, crossroads, and dilemmas, many governments have a prosaic tendency to defy these dramatic predictions and muddle through.
    — Ben Bland, semafor.com, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of crossroads
Noun
  • The intense temperature and pressure of the impact heated the moon's crust and mantle so much that many of the volatile elements present (volatiles are elements with low boiling points), including potassium, evaporated and escaped into space.
    — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 23 Jan. 2026
  • Thermodynamics drives selective recovery The researchers hypothesized that FJH combined with chlorine gas could exploit differences in Gibbs free energy and boiling points to selectively remove non-REE elements from magnet waste.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 29 Sep. 2025
Definition of boiling points
Noun
  • Trout, whose Angels tenure has included seven managers and five heads of baseball operations, will now be playing under a new owner for the first time.
    — Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2026
  • Presidential library residence Bill and Hillary still have a place to rest their heads in Little Rock.
    — Katie Schultz, Architectural Digest, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of heads

Browse Nearby Words

flash point
flash points
flashy
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Cite this Entry

“Flash points.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flash%20points. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

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