perfect storm

noun

1. Meteorology. a very intense and powerful storm arising from the convergence of an unusual set of weather patterns:

   A dying Hurricane Grace delivered the immeasurable tropical energy needed to create the perfect storm.

2. a detrimental or calamitous situation or event arising from the powerful combined effect of a unique set of circumstances:

   a perfect storm battering corporate pension plans.

perfect storm

noun

1. a combination of events which are not individually dangerous, but occurring together produce a disastrous outcome

Word History and Origins

Origin of perfect storm¹

First recorded in 1935–40 in meteorological sense; in 1997 for current sense, from The Perfect Storm, a nonfiction book by Sebastian Junger, U.S. journalist and author (born 1962)

Example Sentences

It was the perfect storm of free time, access to social media and increasingly user-friendly ways of trading stocks, like smartphone apps.

From Washington Post

Together, at midday, these create “kind of a perfect storm that makes people tired,” Mednick says.

From Washington Post

A pandemic that shuts down campuses could—and probably should—create a perfect storm.

From Fortune

Given these shifts, on top of state Republicans’ blatant mishandling of the pandemic, and the subsequent economic fallout, we could very well now be in the middle of a perfect storm that ends decades of Republican control of Texas.

From Fortune

All this created “a perfect storm from a cash perspective,” the CEO of Portfolio Recovery Associates, Encore’s main competitor, told Wall Street analysts.

From ProPublica

The Perfect Storm writer talks combat brotherhood and the threat posed by growing wealth inequality.

From The Daily Beast

It took a perfect storm of things to take me down, and the same kinds of things to get me back.

From The Daily Beast

The result was a perfect storm of commuter congestion where “normal Caracas chaos became absolute mayhem.”

From The Daily Beast

Has the Sterling decision set a new standard or was the Sterling ban part of a perfect storm?

From The Daily Beast

In other words, we have a perfect storm of societal systems that disproportionately target our LGBT youth.

From The Daily Beast

Everybody clapped their hands and stomped on the floor like a perfect storm, whilst the king held up his head and smiled proud.

From Project Gutenberg

A perfect storm of welcome greeted him, and mutual surprise and delight were exhibited by all.

From Project Gutenberg

She let go a perfect storm of general denunciation, then narrowed the attack to Samuel Clemens as the oldest of the party.

From Project Gutenberg

Expecting Reno would make a dash such as his own, he had gallantly ridden forward, to be met by a perfect storm of flame and lead.

From Project Gutenberg

In an incredibly short time houses were entirely unroofed, and a perfect storm of tiles rained upon the quays and streets.

From Project Gutenberg