make-or-break
Decisive turning point
Make-or-break describes a situation, moment, or factor that will determine success or failure with nothing in between: This is a make-or-break year for the company.
The hyphenated phrase works as an adjective before nouns—a make-or-break decision, a make-or-break game.
It emphasizes high stakes and binary outcomes.
Expressing disapproval or importance
- crucialOf supreme importance
- pivotalVitally important, deciding
- determiningEstablishing with certainty
- definingSpecifying exact meaning
deciding · fateful · momentous · consequential · clinching · settling · final · high-stakes
Something transforming everything
- dealbreakerUnacceptable condition that ends talks
- linchpinVital securing element
- keystoneArch's central locking stone
- fulcrumLever's balance point
lever · springboard · trigger · spark · cornerstone · kingpin · lynchpin · wild-card
Drainage area boundary
- crossroadsMeeting of routes
- junctureCritical point of decision
- thresholdPoint of beginning
- milestoneNotable event marking progress
flashpoint · crux · precipice · brink · cusp
critical
Expressing disapproval or importance
- crucialOf supreme importance
- pivotalVitally important, deciding
- determiningEstablishing with certainty
defining · deciding · fateful · momentous · consequential · clinching · settling · final · high-stakes · do-or-die
game-changer
Something transforming everything
- dealbreakerUnacceptable condition that ends talks
- linchpinVital securing element
- keystoneArch's central locking stone
fulcrum · lever · springboard · trigger · spark · cornerstone · kingpin · lynchpin · wild-card · x-factor
watershed
Drainage area boundary
- crossroadsMeeting of routes
- junctureCritical point of decision
- thresholdPoint of beginning
- High Stakesdo-or-die, do or die, life or death, all-in, showdown
- crunch timecrunch time, do or die, do-or-die, last chance, now or never
- time pressurerush, against the clock, rushed, clock is ticking, urgency
- timingtiming, stopwatch, pause, early, countdown
- prioritypriority, top priority, high priority, low-priority, first priority
make-or-breakincremental
Proceeding by small additions
gradual · inconsequential · trivial · minor · negligible
make-or-breaksafe
Free from peril
risk-free · inconsequential · low-risk · harmless · secure
make-or-breakinconsequential
Lacking significance or impact
trivial · negligible · unimportant · insignificant · immaterial
make, break, maker, making, breaking, remake, makes, breakable, breaks