make-or-break

American  

[meyk-er-breyk] / ˈmeɪk ərˈbreɪk /

adjective

1. either completely successful or utterly disastrous.

   a make-or-break marketing policy.

---

make or break Idioms  

1. Cause either total success or total ruin, as in This assignment will make or break her as a reporter. This rhyming expression, first recorded in Charles Dickens's Barnaby Rudge (1840), has largely replaced the much older (16th-century) alliterative synonym make or mar, at least in America.

---

Etymology

Origin of make-or-break

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

TSA wait times are frustrating fliers — and this Friday looks to be a make-or-break day for American travelers.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 24, 2026

The novel’s title refers to the most difficult portion of any climb, the make-or-break moment when you either bail out or commit to reaching the summit.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026

It could be a make-or-break week in their season.

From BBC • Jan. 22, 2026

The first film is a make-or-break for many actors turned directors.

From Salon • Jan. 1, 2026

“This is the make-or-break moment,” the mystery woman with the hidden face said to Mom and Dad, as if Max wasn’t right there listening.

From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix