crash out
[ krash out ]
What does crash out mean?
To crash out is to lose emotional control, act recklessly, or erupt in anger or distress. The noun form crashout describes either an outburst or an emotionally reactive person.
Crash out can refer to anything from a humorous reaction to a very serious expression of anxiety or distress. Someone who’s feeling overwhelmed might declare (either jokingly or seriously), “I’m about to crash out.”
Where does crash out come from?
The modern expression crash out originated in African American Vernacular English (AAVE). Its precise beginnings are difficult to establish, though online examples date to 2013.
Louisiana-based rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again (aka NBA YoungBoy) is often credited with helping to popularize the term through his 2017 song “Stepped On,” which includes the line “crash out if I’m nervous.” The phrase gained a wider audience through TikTok in the early 2020s, particularly in skits about volatile people picking fights or causing scenes.
Eventually, its meaning broadened and people began using crash out humorously for comparatively minor frustrations, such as an irritating assignment or a disappointing food order. In 2024, the American Dialect Society named the term a runner-up for its 2024 Word of the Year. The next year, the Duke University Press journal American Speech included the term among its new words.
Examples of crash out
Watch me genuinely start to crash out after I realized I just cut my brand new $100 dress
Finding out crash out worthy information when you're somewhere you can't crash out really is a special level of hell.
when you're crashing out but you remember the kids are out of berries
Who uses crash out?
Crash out is especially common among Gen Z and Gen Alpha, though it’s increasingly being picked up by older generations as well. This widespread usage is perhaps due to its relatability or the familiarity of the term “crash” as a verb for falling asleep after a stressful experience or coming down after a high from something like caffeine. People of all generations may use the term in real-life conversations or post about it on social media.
NOTE
This is not meant to be a formal definition of crash out like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of crash out that will help our users expand their word mastery.
