midlife crisis

noun

1. a period of psychological stress occurring in middle age, thought to be triggered by a physical, occupational, or domestic event, as menopause, diminution of physical prowess, job loss, or departure of children from the home.

midlife crisis

/ ˈmɪdˌlaɪf /

noun

1. a crisis that may be experienced in middle age involving frustration, panic, and feelings of pointlessness, sometimes resulting in radical and often ill-advised changes of lifestyle

Word History and Origins

Origin of midlife crisis¹

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

I feel as if I am in a mini midlife crisis of discovering my own power and questioning whether I have been squandering it to stay at the lower ambition level of my husband.

From Washington Post

Many Gen Xers are facing their midlife crisis amid an ongoing crisis.

From Digiday

This just feels like a crossroads, or a classic midlife crisis — but it’s not a fixed or different state of being.

From Washington Post

Maria Cosway, Jefferson’s mistress for six weeks, was a Renaissance woman who knew six languages, played the harp and was a gifted painter — at 27, the definition of a muse for a 43-year-old man going through a midlife crisis.

From Ozy

When Gates finally stepped down from day-to-day operations in 2008, the company was in a midlife crisis — still making huge amounts of money off Windows but being overtaken in emerging areas of computing by younger rivals Apple, Google and Facebook.

From Washington Post

Then we cut to Ted, mid-midlife crisis, who abruptly decides to cut the jets while piloting Sunkist clients over NorCal.

From The Daily Beast

Ted Thompson is concerned with the “if not before,” which is to say the midlife crisis.

From The Daily Beast

Now, however, the VMAs are facing a bit of a midlife crisis.

From The Daily Beast

Burning money trying to become “cooler” ends up looking something like the metropolitan equivalent to a midlife crisis.

From The Daily Beast

As I continue to bring up the term “midlife crisis,” I can almost hear Reynolds cringe through the phone.

From The Daily Beast