red alert

noun

Definition of red alertnext
as in watch
the state of being constantly attentive and responsive to signs of opportunity, activity, or danger the paparazzi were on red alert for sightings of the hot new Hollywood couple

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 red alert Italy’s Health Ministry placed all 27 cities monitored under its national heat surveillance system on red alert Thursday — the first time this year the entire network has been under the highest warning level simultaneously. — ABC News, 6 Aug. 2026 Sunday’s stage through the Massif Central was won by Mathieu van der Poel, out-sprinting a small breakaway group, having been shortened by 30km due to a ‘red alert’ heatwave in the region. — Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 13 July 2026 The center on Saturday also issued the first red alert for rainstorms of the year, according to state broadcaster CCTV. — Los Angeles Times, 11 July 2026 Three-quarters of France, encompassing tens of millions of people, was put under a red alert for extreme heat on Thursday and Friday as the mercury topped 40 C (104 F) in some locations, including in Paris. — Kirsten Grieshaber, Fortune, 27 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for red alert
Recent Examples of Synonyms for red alert
  1. watch
  2. watchfulness
  3. alert
  4. alertness
  5. vigilance
Noun
  • The watch is for Alamance, Chatham, Davidson, Durham, Edgecombe, Forsyth, Franklin, Granville, Guilford, Halifax, Harnett, Johnston, Lee, Montgomery, Moore, Nash, Orange, Person, Randolph, Stanly, Vance, Wake, Warren, Wayne and Wilson counties.
    — NC Weather Bot, Charlotte Observer, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Participants — a group of 58 people (31 women, 27 men) ranging in age from 18 to 50 — wore all four watches and the COSMED metabolic analyzer simultaneously while exercising on a stationary bike at an FIU lab.
    — Michelle Marchante September 4, Miami Herald, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of watch
Noun
  • The multiple heads can be said to represent divine watchfulness of the world and devotees.
    — Charles Preston, Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Aug. 2026
  • For now, the consensus among Wall Street’s economists is less alarm than watchfulness.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of watchfulness
Noun
  • The kindergarten his daughter attends must move the children to a shelter whenever an air-raid alert sounds.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Yosemite records few rabid bats, with the last case in 2025, but other national parks have issued rabies alerts within days or weeks, raising fresh questions about Yosemite’s public-health communication.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of alert
Noun
  • The alertness of adults (parents and lawmakers) as well as more mature teens to private sector accountability helps.
    — The Christian Science Monitor, Christian Science Monitor, 31 Aug. 2026
  • To achieve this, the locus coeruleus continuously alternates between tonic activity—governing baseline arousal and alertness—and brief phasic bursts that focus attention on critical events.
    — Julian Hayes II, Forbes.com, 23 Aug. 2026
Definition of alertness
Noun
  • In her depiction of the exhausting vigilance this reality required, through a second-person voice cannily implicating her reader, Rankine created a new language to identify a problem as old as the United States.
    — Charles Finch, The Atlantic, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Mental health can change quickly, so constant vigilance is important.
    — Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of vigilance

Browse Nearby Words

redacts
red alert
red-blooded
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Red alert.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/red%20alert. Accessed 6 Sep. 2026.

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